Joe Field built the legacy small market radio group known as Entercom.

His son, an S.O.B., (Son of the Boss) took over the company, mortgaged the future by overpaying for CBS Radio and then tried to “un-CBS” the merged company.

Today, the Entercom that Joe Field built is worth less than $2 on the stock market but has close to $2 billion in debt.

The Fields stand a reasonable chance of losing control of the company if they have to go back to lenders.

Reenter Joe Field who whether you are aware of it or not, is back but in a very different way and it if it doesn’t work, there will be a lot of misery for Entercom employees.

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Months before COVID, iHeart dumped over 1,000 employees.

Then COVID handed iHeart’s beleaguered owners a “gift” and they used it to substantially eliminate more jobs as advertising took a hit.

This pattern of firing, layoffs, furloughs, “dislocations” and “excellence hubs” (as they called them) morphed into employees taking off a few weeks from the company with no pay.

iHeart billing is off as much as 50% as they continue to burn through what cash they have left to keep operating.

All this as Liberty Media awaits the DOJs ruling on whether they will be allowed to make a takeover bid even as iHeart searches for foreign money to prop them up.

Now they’re going to get serious about cost cutting in some vulnerable markets (over 80%) and it’s going to look and feel desperate and not unnoticed by other radio groups.

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I have to laugh every time I see the NAB beg for a government bailout of radio by overemphasizing the critical importance of local radio.

Radio is the least local it has ever been and the NAB is ironically the chief enabler of consolidators and their private equity backers who have ruined the industry.

Late last week, the FCC gave the greenlight to a Cumulus petition to allow virtual monopoly control of “local radio” by foreign interests.

This changes everything – obviously the failing consolidators would not go begging for money overseas unless it was their absolute last option.

We’ve discussed the deleterious effects of private equity owners on local radio, Main Street advertisers and declining radio jobs but the greenlighting of foreign financial interest in radio is an entire other aspect to reckon with.

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This doesn’t bode well for the talent fighting to keep their jobs in the radio industry right now.

Entercom has found a way to drastically reduce or eliminate live talent and get ratings to go up at the same time.

Armed with this, Entercom has the template for a massive systemwide reduction in work force at a time when they are burning through cash and getting hit hard by advertising losses due to COVID-19.

Looking at the ratings increases, Entercom is finding ways to confound traditional wisdom that live and local attracts the largest audiences as you’ll see when you consider that listeners seem to like Entercom stations without live talent.

This is empowering to owners that are dedicated to cutting salary expenses in the next 90 days – and the cume vs. quarter hour numbers are mysteriously non-intuitive even as drivetime has been adversely affected by working at home.

This is eerily the look of Entercom’s future downsizing plan that other groups most certainly will follow.

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Anything iHeart does is important because the rest of the radio industry tends to follow their lead.

It looks like May is down 50%, June could be as bad causing concern about lagging revenue.

iHeart did a major firing in January well before COVID, another at the time of the virus and more nips and tucks – and 2020 is not even half over yet.

Under a plan being tested now, iHeart is going to force existing employees to take less while they continue to evaluate whose job will be on the chopping block next.

An area most vulnerable is sales where iHeart is testing radical new plans to cut compensation and at the same time set up some sellers for the next round of cutbacks.

All of this is likely to be rolled out systemwide in June with some unique exceptions in a handful of markets that would be tantamount to driving their best salespeople into the arms of competitors.

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This company is in the worst pickle of its post-CBS life.

With an admitted 40% revenue loss in the coronavirus infected second quarter, they are trying to make continued losses look like growth.

They can’t cut expenses fast enough to make up the difference.

Entercom is going to eliminate unnecessary jobs, consolidate where they can and regionalize to save money.

The markets that will be affected the most will be ransacked – there’s really no other word for it.

We get a real look at what Entercom will be like after drastic and desperate cost cuts to stay afloat – in fact, they have already created the model ransacked version in one of its major markets.

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Just before Memorial Day, Cumulus became the third radio group in a month to swallow a so-called “poison pill” to protect them against a hostile takeover.

Entercom and iHeart preceded them as underperforming radio groups are suddenly in vogue with speculators.

What’s going on here – why the sudden interest? 

Out of the three, one would be like taking candy from a baby.

And it already may be too late for a second radio group fighting a takeover.

People familiar with such financial maneuvers tell us that all it would take in one case is a relatively small amount of cash and a very manageable loan -- better than they now have in place.

Worse yet, there are disruptive ramifications for employees if the company they are working for is stolen through a hostile takeover especially for those who have survived many rounds of layoffs and furloughs.

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Every sport heard on radio went silent due to COVID-19.

Anyone who thinks that when the teams return to empty stadiums and eventually fewer paying fans that radio will recover is living in an alternate reality.

Sports radio accounts for a lot of money and it is now in jeopardy.  There are going to be many changes in how radio broadcasts and markets sports.

Teams are preparing now to make new demands of their broadcast partners.

Listeners are learning new habits that don’t bode well for radio stations.

Competitors are popping up that didn’t previously exist.

And companies like iHeart, Beasley and Entercom have a lot at stake in a segment that they are struggling to understand -- companies.

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I get that radio lives in an alternate reality that it so laced in happy talk that they have ignored the signs of a declining industry long before COVID-19.

But a major market advertiser is so irked, they have complained to iHeart, Entercom & Beasley for sitting on their hands and helping themselves before helping their clients.

They’re outing a lazy radio industry that assumes that when all of this over, these must-have advertisers will simply return.

This will open some eyes because it gets specific about what radio stations need to do to win back essential advertisers.

And it’s the opposite of what most radio stations are doing.

Local advertisers are madder than hell and they’re now vocally threatening to take their ad money elsewhere – consider this a wakeup call.

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According to Mary Berner the cancellation of “March Madness” killed Cumulus last quarter.

But that’s only part of it – she left something really, really important out.

And something is not quite right about their layoffs – publicly you hear one story, privately a totally different one.

Their stock has gone from $4.60 to the $3.40 range meaning investors are not buying what they are hearing from Cumulus management.

What could be so bad that Cumulus feels it has to conceal the truth?

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David Field was forced to show his cards late last week when he conducted the second quarter earnings call for financial analysts.

Anyone who subscribes to this publication knows the tricks used by radio CEOs to cover up lack of performance and attempts to inspire confidence in their lagging companies.

Although this time Entercom covered a lot of shortcomings but couldn’t hide the need for more massive layoffs.

Threadbare markets just lost key employees and now we are able to do the math to get a reasonable idea of how many and who will be next. 

Field promised stakeholders upwards of $110 million in cost synergies when he closed the CBS Radio deal – Entercom is way beyond that now and still climbing.

Now that we know Entercom’s previous cost savings from RIFs and plugging in radio revenue projections for the rest of this year, we get a clear picture of how the next round will look.

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77% of laid off workers think they will get their jobs back post-coronavirus.

That optimism does not apply to the radio industry where COVID-19 has been used as an excuse to “right-size” companies even as iHeart morphed from “dislocations” to furloughs.

Furloughs are temporary by definition but under a plan being developed by the “Evil Empire”, these interruptions in getting a paycheck will not see 77% of the workforce returning any time soon.

The question is just how many furloughed iHeart employees will be called back – they can’t let them all go, can they?

Employees look at COVID as a crisis, but iHeart and other radio groups see it as an opportunity and they have carefully thought out plans to proceed. 

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This is the oddest thing when the #1 and #2 radio groups are struggling to survive but have to now worry about hostile takeovers.

It’s not speculation, it’s public with both having swallowed so-called “poison pills” to thwart interested private equity groups – iHeart as recently as late last week, Entercom a month earlier.

What’s worse is that other publicly-traded radio groups may have to take the same protective measures.

The stock price makes the value of radio companies so low even you and I could come up with the money.

Maybe that’s an exaggeration but it is surprising how little out of pocket cash would be necessary to steal radio’s biggest consolidators while they’re down and out.

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Liberty now reportedly owns 30-35% of iHeart debt and counting that can be turned into equity.

Even the poison pill iHeart swallowed after hours on Friday can’t kill John Malone’s ambitions.

This means it is just a matter of time before Bain, Pittman, Bressler and company lose the company to a shrewd media tycoon.

There will be a new strategy on layoffs and furloughs when Liberty gets control.

The markets that are most vulnerable to this takeover by a satellite radio company have no idea what is coming their way.

As iHeart top management protects itself, we get a preview of what iHeart will look like for the unprotected.

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The much-maligned employees of CBS must be snickering to themselves as the panicked Entercom CEO David Field who made it clear he thought CBS people were overrated and overpaid, hired one back this week.

Chris Oliviero quit Entercom after only about six months into the new regime. 

He gave a long, more than 6-month notice but he and his CBS salary left.

Now Weezie Kramer gets pushed out (more about that in a moment), her replacement Susan Larkin somehow got her CBS-phobic boss to rehire one of the expendables begging the question – what’s up with that?

Turns out another surprise big management casualty is coming, a fear of losing the sports franchise that is critical to David Field’s plan and an indication that Entercom has to strike quickly before a declining economy kicks them into bankruptcy.

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Kim Guthrie has been one of the outstanding top executives in the radio industry.

So, it came as no surprise that when Apollo Global Management bought Cox TV stations and eventually their sister radio stations, Guthrie was part of the deal.

Corporate headquarters remained in Atlanta and Guthrie’s team largely stayed in place.

Then, the first cutbacks – this was before Coronavirus. 

Guthrie doesn’t do cutbacks so this was a bad omen as we pointed out at the time.

Now, no Guthrie – no stability, no shared vision – just a bunch of private equity people who are out $3.1 billion for the Cox TV stations and subsequently $500 million for radio.

You better believe previously unimaginable changes are coming to Cox Media.

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The layoffs, firings and furloughs continue, but now the salary givebacks are ready to be deployed.

Salem implemented crushing salary cuts yesterday – a major blow to survivors.

Previously iHeart and Entercom either requested volunteers to work for less or forced them into giving back salary – especially those making $50,000 or more.

And Entercom of course has been dickering with employees since the CBS merger to nickel and dime them down to what David Field felt they should really be paid.

This time, the survivors will need to get ready for life support as we preview the pain iHeart, Entercom, Cumulus and other companies are ready to inflict on their “luck to have a job” survivors.

And, a bright note about the radio company that gave everyone a raise – that’s right, a small company yes, but a raise not a firing or cutback in the same coronavirus economy in which everyone else is punishing employees for their mistakes.

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One of radio’s most financially troubled companies is afraid that they will take significant losses of salespeople due to the downturn in advertising revenue.

Cumulus has taken some action to build a safety net for their better sellers to keep them from leaving out of financial necessity but they also are looking to jettison the dead weight.

Cumulus has been failing to generate adequate revenue to contribute to both operating expenses and pay down debt which is approximately $1 billion.

Westwood One has been hit by the loss of sports dollars with March Madness and the Olympics being cancelled while stations have seen double digit erosion of local ad dollars and more of a reliance on cheap remnant ads.

Tuesday April 28th Bob Walker, Dave Milner and an HR rep got on the phone with market managers for a confidential conference call about their future plans.

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Company-wide cutbacks.

One way to cut costs is to sell radio stations which Cumulus announced yesterday when it offloaded its Albany, GA cluster to a local operator for $450,000 (4 FMs, 1 AM, 1 translator.)

Starting next week, there will be another go-round of furloughs in sales on unsuspecting victims.

We now know which sellers are in harm’s way.

And reportedly there is a buyer looking to cherry-pick the Cumulus portfolio and one other radio group.

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As it turns out, iHeart’s no-paycations announced Tuesday are not what the company said they were.

Their bait and switch mentality is at work even in this layoff.

You might be surprised to learn that even sending Bob Pittman home penniless will not solve iHeart’s dire financial problems exacerbated by the coronavirus’ effect on the economy.

Employees have been misled on their forced unpaid vacations.

This begs the question is there any amount of savings that can save iHeart from itself?

The numbers iHeart is pouring over has the answer.

We did the math.

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iHeart is forcing employees who make $50,000 or more to take two weeks of “unpaid vacation”. 

No pay is no vacation and as it turns out iHeart’s promise to make this their last action impacting employee compensation is a red herring for what they really mean.

The lost wages are approximately 4% of their annual pay and most employees would rather take that than be out of a job at a time like this.

And we now know the average pay of an iHeart employee based on yesterday’s no-paycation decision although the ratio of Bob Pittman’s compensation to the average employee is telling. 

The unpaid iHeart vacationers are not just going without pay for two weeks.

Many are next in line to be fired.  

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Entercom may be in worse trouble than iHeart and yes, Cumulus.

It is now a “Zombie company” that exists to pay its debt.

• In a pandemic-triggered recession, this unbelievable set of circumstances is acting like an accelerant.
• Entercom was a mess before this happened back to the botched CBS Radio merger and any sound company doesn’t have a $1 stock price.
• Bad balance sheet, no workable strategy.
• They could cut more employees but because of its rapid decline that will not be enough.

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The Field family has a lot to worry about.

Entercom has become the target of takeover thinking.

Weakened, unable to deliver shareholder value before the coronavirus and economic uncertainty, Entercom took the unnerving step of swallowing a so-called “poison pill” to buy them some degree of protection for the next year.

As it turns out, the “poison pill” dressed up as a “shareholders rights plan” isn’t going to be enough protection against the Fields losing control of the company.

There is a more disruptive way the Fields will lose control of Entercom even after they digested the “poison pill”.

And stopping it is getting to be near impossible.

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We know that Bob Pittman was laying thousands off at iHeart before he had the coronavirus to blame.

And David Field has been canning people from the moment he bought CBS Radio – remember the $110 million cost synergy pledge he made to lenders.

And that Cumulus has been nuking their staff before, during and after bankruptcy – they didn’t need a virus to blame it on.

Beasley did it, Univision flush with half a billion in cash is doing it.

But what about Saga, the company with the least debt and the highest stock price?

All this becomes more critical to look at to see what a profitable radio company is planning to do.

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I have a candidate for Radio Ink’s “Executive of the Year”.

Univision CEO Vince Sadusky who is flush with cash and firing like a fool.

It’s hard to beat last year’s “executive of the year” stinker for chutzpah -- Bob Pittman who in the first quarter killed well over 1,000 jobs – and that’s before the Coronavirus.   He laid off, fired or furloughed hundreds more beyond that. 

Radio groups are crying pour mouth because their debt is too high and ad revenue has dried up.  Whose fault is that?

Their employees, of course.

The virus firings that every group except two are getting in on are a gift from heaven for them but if you think the worst is over, you haven’t heard about the next deep cuts at iHeart, Entercom and Cumulus under the cover of a recession.

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I’ve learned about what is going on in the bowels of Cumulus – their inner workings, their odd board of directors representing lenders who were burned.

This we know.

Mary Berner just got a two-year contract extension – but the details are revealing.

There is something else more telling because of the soap opera known as Cumulus Media.

Her replacement may already be waiting in the wings already working in the company and the insiders know who it is.

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Some radio groups will not survive.

Even though radio ad revenue had been eroding gradually for the past few years, no one could see this precipitous drop coming.

Some groups will do better, but not that much better because the coronavirus and ensuing economic recession has ripped into the fundamentals of the radio industry.

Layoffs, firings and furloughs will be as commonplace as social distancing.

This tsunami is not temporary and the changes it will trigger will upend the radio industry’s biggest groups.

Radio has been running with lean staffs pointing out the challenges debt-heavy groups like iHeart, Entercom and Cumulus now face.

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It goes from bad to worse at Cumulus as ad revenue dries up.

They have made cuts prior but don’t have the regional capability to create “excellence centers” like iHeart to automate local markets.

Instead, they are forced to stay local with almost no employees at their medium and smaller market stations that make up the majority of the group.

Cumulus will move early next week to eliminate and consolidate what is left of their operations in the station group and Westwood One.

Their goal is to stay on the air with the minimal number of people.

By the end of next week, you won’t recognize Cumulus and Westwood One.

Read the full article now

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With radio groups like iHeart rushing to fire people to qualify for a federal bailout, the big question is – where is John Malone?

He owns a lot of iHeart stock.

Says he wants to take over control of the company.

Mysteriously, he stands by doing nothing even as a consumer group attempts to block his merger attempt.

It’s not what you may think.  On Malone’s dumbest day, he outsmarts Bob Pittman.

What iHeart employees want to know is …

What is Malone’s strategy for taking over iHeart – now when they are against the wall seems like a good time.

And will Malone kill radio jobs as much as Pittman seems willing to do.

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This one will be different but just as painful.

iHeart isn’t wasting time.

$200 million in savings by the end of 2020 on top of $50 million from the February “dislocations”.

That means a devastating reduction in workforce indicating the worst is yet to come.

They have a plan for who will get whacked and the timing of future layoffs.

We’re getting the first look at how significantly “dislocation #3”  will affect stations and careers at iHeart.

Read the full article now

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Radio is on track to taking a 65% decline in revenue due to the coronavirus.

Entercom is in survival mode and that’s not being overly dramatic.

Stock closed at $1 yesterday.

Can’t repay their debt and won’t be able to when it comes due.

Entercom is now a Zombie company – one  that earns just enough to keep operating and service debt but unable to substantially pay it down or off. 

Entercom is now working for its lenders.

Their big question is how do their planned cutbacks save $75-100 million more without irreparably damaging the company?

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Before there was coronavirus in the U.S., iHeart fired over 1,000 employees and set the stage for more by building so-called “excellence centers”.

Then the virus came and iHeart – not one to waste a good virus – lopped off hundreds of more jobs under the misnomer of “furloughs” – temporary layoffs by definition but firing in iHeart lingo.

Almost all other radio groups are following iHeart’s walk off the local radio plank as they, too, got caught with their debt too high to pay.

iHeart is expected to lead the way toward more layoffs having done two in three months, but they are not going to stop there.

Now they have a plan to stretch their “dislocations” even further – an insidious plan with harmful effects that they are going to try to sneak under the radar.

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It would be helpful to study what Mary Berner did when she was CEO of the failing magazine Reader’s Digest.

Two bankruptcies and a massive firing of personnel before she was eventually fired or agreed to leave.

Google it.

Berner is not a radio executive or innovator. 

She takes companies and bankrupts them.  That’s what she does.

This is my way of saying – remember those furloughs, firings, pay cuts, and 3 weeks of non-paid vacation over the 15 that Berner was selling 24 hours ago?

It’s actually about to get worse for the poor souls at Cumulus.

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The other shoe has dropped.

Cumulus follows iHeart, Entercom and Townsquare in cutting expenses.

The Cumulus cutbacks are different especially in the scope of who will be affected.

With some radio groups seeing as high as a 90% drop in business for April, panic is setting in.

There are more groups waiting to reduce their work forces and some preparing second and third rounds.

But these start now -- hopefully, competitors won’t get any new ideas from Cumulus because today’s layoffs are really that draconian.

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The worst round of iHeart firings has yet to happen.

Even though there have been two massive layoffs in just the last three months affecting thousands, they need to do more.

Now the coronavirus is giving them cover to fire with impunity.

iHeart competitors are making it easy for them to make successive large layoffs and once they do, these same competitors do the same – a vicious cycle.

The question is what do further cuts in personnel jammed into a short timeframe look like for a company like iHeart running low on operating cash?

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By definition a furlough is temporary – not meant to be permanent.

But during “Furlough Week in Radio” last week iHeart, Townsquare and Entercom offloaded employees using this tactic.

Cumulus is moments away from jumping in.

Not all furloughs are equal.

Some radio groups will actually recall a number of those furloughed and others have no intention of doing so.

Knowing which furloughs are real is the key to understanding future cuts.

Read the full article now

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David Field let the door hit him in the butt on the way to taking a minor pay cut as all the other major CEOs went first.

Then yesterday he circulated a memo to employees telling them many will lose their jobs while arguing how bad things are and how good they are – at the same time.

And that lots of them will be temporarily “furloughed” and others will have their pay cut just like their CEO.

Except for one thing.

The “Furloughs” are phony.

Perhaps the most important disclosure about the Entercom firings is in the fine print.

Read the full article now

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iHeart, Cumulus, Beasley and Entercom are panic firing in the name of furloughing.

Saga has decided to go down the road not taken.

Old school CEO Ed Christian is making the long bet and he can afford to because Saga has virtually no debt.

It’s not that Saga’s business isn’t being adversely affected by the coronavirus and economic uncertainty.

It’s just that panic firing is so blatantly a tactic of companies that are going out of business or filing bankruptcy.

Once iHeart started furloughing, every other lemming followed but will any group follow Saga’s lead once they see how this innovative plan works.

Read the full article now

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Notice how they’re no longer “layoffs” or ‘dislocations” in the radio industry now.

They’re furloughs – Entercom, Townsquare and iHeart plugging into a term being used by non-radio companies to cut costs and blame it on the coronavirus.

After “Furlough Tuesday” yesterday, Cumulus is not to be outdone.

Cumulus is as bad off as the other radio companies due to their own mistakes when the economy was booming.

We’re beginning to see who is going to get whacked.

And a growing concern by so-called “essential” employees who may survive the week ahead.

Read the full article now

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For the past five years ever since Entercom took over CBS Radio every CBS or Entercom employee feared the last day of a fiscal quarter.

Today, they have real reason.

This is the last day of a terrible quarter for the radio industry and particularly Entercom.

The firings will come fast, the reach will be surprising and the company will eliminate and consolidate expenses to counter its mounting revenue losses.

Make no mistake, this is a large layoff.

A new and different Entercom will emerge.

Read the full article now

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Yesterday iHeart conducted a “phantom firing” that is shrouded in uncertainty that may be causing more anxiety than even their pre-virus 1,000+ mass “dislocation”.

Publicly, they are saying one thing, but behind the scenes there are a lot of concerns about just who is non-essential and whether they are in fact expendable after the 90 days are up.

This typical smoke and mirrors approach for iHeart is reportedly massive now.

And a handful of draconian cutbacks that probably don’t have anything to do with the effects of the coronavirus on their company – some absolutely jaw dropping.

No one believes the radio industry will come back even when the virus goes away so the real question is – what exactly did iHeart just pull off in the name of the coronavirus.

Read the full article now

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Townsquare joined Entercom and iHeart today to initiate cutbacks in time for the end of the first quarter – there is a reason for this timing.

Other benefits are being suspended.

Townsquare is going even further preparing the workforce for a long-term and severe financial crisis.

Future expected firings will be based on data analysis putting 2,200 Townsquare employees in harm’s way.

And the worst news for the industry – not just Townsquare – is what they are saying about radio’s digital business.

Read the full article now

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Now the benefits are going.

Part-timers being fired in large numbers – one radio group reportedly fired over 60 of them in one market late last week.

The CEOs of General Motors, Delta Airlines and Southwest among others have taken pay cuts while asking employees to take pay cuts, which radio CEOs are thinking about doing the same?

Great numbers of advertisers are bailing on April ad schedules. 

More firings are being planned on a new time schedule.

We’re now beginning to see not only the “dislocations” but cost savings that will affect the survivors.

Read the full article now

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Everyone knew this was coming but not this soon.

If the 1,000+ January firings didn’t make a dent in iHeart’s money problems, they are planning a series of firings that will.

iHeart is moving to shore up its failing financial situation made worse by the effects of the coronavirus on the economy.

The next “dislocations” are reportedly being moved up because they are burning through cash so fast several doomsday scenarios are now up for consideration.

Read the full article now

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Of all the radio groups, Cumulus is the one company that reportedly cannot survive the decline in radio advertising.

They have sold off their iconic major market stations to raise quick cash, sold or are selling real estate and are trying for a second time to unload their towers.

But sources reveal why no one wanted their tower real estate previously.

Ad revenue is plummeting, Westwood One is now reduced to a clearinghouse for cheap remnant ads and podcasting was a red herring all along.

Now it’s down to a few final options.

Read the full article now

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Radio groups can’t survive the advertising implosion based on the coronavirus and the resulting shaky economy that is expected to impact radio for at least the rest of the year.

So, radio groups are moving up the dates of planned layoffs.

These are going to be brutal.

This time, there will be rolling layoffs targeting things that have been previously off-limits as the list of “dislocators” is growing.

What’s troubling is that the coronavirus and sputtering economy are handing failing radio groups a big gift  to quickly do what they’ve wanted to do all along.

Shrink radio.

Read the full article now

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How can a company this good be doing this poorly?

Its stock is officially less than two-buck chuck and local ad revenue continues to erode.

Begging the question what do investors know who voted with their money to take Entercom from $16 a share to a buck fifty after the CBS merger?

You see why David Field always changes the topic to podcasting?

But recent critical information shows the kind of urgency that Entercom is trying to cover up.

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Oops.

It turns out someone at Cumulus was not watching the store when they were negotiating major sports rights contracts.

And, it couldn’t happen at a worse time.

In this case, the mistakes were many. 

The terms were one-sided. 

What about Entercom which is as quiet as a church mouse right now – did they get screwed, too?

Read the full article now

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In Italy it is now illegal to fire a worker during the current crisis.

But in radio, the virus is a convenient excuse for “dislocations” and “excellence centers” to balance underperforming stations.

Now it appears Cumulus is blinking.

Mary Berner working behind the scenes is freaking out some market managers who know how she operates.

Reports from inside that contradict her rosy outlook including changing policies on new hires and warnings to top management that significant personnel changes are coming.

Read the full article now

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David Field is officially sweating.

It wasn’t a virus that is causing the start of another round of Entercom firings.  It is David Field’s inability to build shareholder value (Entercom stock is worth $1.57).

The KROQ, LA Kevin and friends morning show went first yesterday with more to come soon.

The narrative of how it happened, when it was planned and why these major layoffs will continue across Entercom is a lesson in cold blooded career murder. 

Entercom plans to use the coronavirus as an excuse for major firings to cover up its inability to make the company viable.

Field’s emergency plan is chilling involving CBS leftovers with plenty of pain reserved for legacy Entercom employees. 

Read the full article now

Newstips  

iHeart, Entercom, Cumulus and Townsquare are afraid of the coronavirus but not for the reasons you think.

Their stock is in the toilet (Entercom $2, Cumulus $6, iHeart, $7, Townsquare $4).

Revenue was eroding for years before the current recession triggered by the pandemic.

No buyers – not even private equity firms who could load up on radio cheaply.

In 1999, a major market radio station sold for $100 million or more.

Today, there are no comparables which of itself says $10 million for WAAF-FM in the Boston market is accurate if not pathetic.

Behind closed doors, each of the major consolidators are getting ready to make disruptive moves to avoid bankruptcy and even their employees don’t see what’s coming.

Read the full article now

Newstips         

One of my mentors in programming was Paul Drew.

The current coronavirus outbreak reminds me of a gem of wisdom Paul imparted to me when he was programming a station I worked for.

“A big news story is better than the hottest hit record in rotation – play it over and over again”.

So here we are as the radio industry is doing the same things with fewer employees while an opportunity to be more viable has just presented itself.

Everyone is paying attention – this is an opportunity to relaunch radio to an audience that has turned to other devices and I’m not talking about news/talk stations here.

Read the full article now

Newstips         

The iHeart “dislocation” of over 1,000 employees in January was just the start.

Who knew?

The major consolidators slammed by huge stock losses and facing an even larger advertising loss during the coronavirus crisis are preparing ways to shed expenses fast.

The coronavirus will be their excuse for drastic cuts that will be similar to what iHeart did before the crisis.

Watch iHeart, Entercom, Cumulus, Beasley and Townsquare.

Soon we will get a real feel for how much further these groups will go to stop the bleeding.

Read the full article now

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They’re baack!

Private equity – the fictional people featured on the Showtime Hit Billions and the real time greedy bastards that ruined the radio business by heaping unpayable debt on it – want back in.

Wait for it -- There are several radio groups anxious to talk to them.

Radio stock prices are declining daily as the coronavirus and expected recession take their toll setting up the perfect storm.

We have identified private equity groups looking to buy back in as radio companies find themselves defenseless against the economy and the debt that prevents them from surviving.

And this time, their plans are even more ingenious and evil.

Read the full article now

Newstips         

Something is seriously up at iHeart.

We know that they are cutting $50 million a year for the next two years mostly through layoffs or what they call “dislocations”. 

Now, under the radar, iHeart is petitioning the Feds for the right to let foreigners take over control of the company.

Why would they want to look to foreign investors to save their company?

If the FCC says yes, wait until you see the changes at iHeart.

Read the full article now

Newstips         

Is the Townsquare sale a sequel?

Does Liberty prevail in the iHeart takeover?

Will streaming services paid subscriptions like Spotify and Apple begin to peak?

Signs show streaming music subscriptions may be stalling – is there anything else to keep the record industry booming? 

Will political ads save radio during the 2020 cycle?

Can radio stations stay afloat without programmatic buying and commodity selling?

Is anyone in radio going to go after Millennials and Gen Z?

Read the full article now

Newstips  

This is unprecedented – no radio group has ever greenlighted such massive cutbacks.

That $50 million figure is directly from iHeart and it means more massive firings are on the way.  This is not my number which I think is even higher.

And in addition to more firings above and beyond the 1,000+ already enacted, there will be a major shakeup in the way iHeart stations will run on what amounts to a shoe-string budget.

The role of an iHeart program director is about to change for those surviving the cutbacks but to accomplish $50 million in savings, iHeart will now have to rethink who gets fired.

Oh, and did I mention that their $50 million cost savings is just for this year.  They’ve budgeted another $50 million by 2021 for a total of $100 million in cutbacks.

Now that they own the number, we get the first accurate look at how drastically iHeart will change.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Weezie Kramer was a revenue machine until her recent health issues.

Susan Larkin is replacing her as COO.

So, does this change anything?

Entercom lost 13 more cents off its stock at closing yesterday down painfully close to the $2 range.

The $500 million EBITDA David Field promised with the CBS merger is down to $312 million.

The radio industry is hurting, the economy is being held hostage by coronavirus and an economic downturn seems likely.

Larkin is a very interesting choice to replace Kramer and there are more implications that most people realize.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

A huge reduction in workforce is coming to Cumulus.

I’ve been warning that the recent iHeart “dislocations” of over 1,000 employees would provide cover for competitors like Entercom and Cumulus.

Now it looks like Cumulus is next.

Cumulus is reportedly drawing up a fail-safe plan to eliminate, consolidate and further regionalize their operations to save money.

Every Cumulus market is vulnerable including the few remaining majors.

This as fear of an economic slowdown forces Cumulus to come up with a quick action plan to save the company.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Look, if you wanted to just save some salaries by using a regional network of employees to replace local radio talent, you wouldn’t need “Excellence Centers”, the type iHeart is proudly touting.

And the reason for that is “excellence centers” which are not about excellence but about cost synergies are going to be so much more than regional distribution centers.

In fact, iHeart has gone through great pains to fully think through this replacement of local talent with cheaper and fewer employees.

And it isn’t going to stop with programming and talent.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

They sold some of the most iconic major market stations for pennies on the dollar to raise needed cash.

Sold off or are selling real estate.

Reconsidering whether to sell its towers – and that’s a real mess. 

Filed for bankruptcy but still have too much debt to operate.

Now with revenue declining, something has to give.

The real numbers shed light on their troubles and isolate the few remaining options Cumulus has left.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Something has happened that has forced iHeart back to the drawing board sooner than expected.

There are 150 target markets, over 850 stations and plans are being considered as to how to implement significant cost savings relying on the so-called “excellence centers” that they dreamed up for the first 1,000+ firings in January.

Other means of cost cutting are presumably also underway but reducing the workforce is the fastest way to see the savings on the bottom line.

This as their competitors are also suffering financially and taking notes on iHeart.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Nielsen has had no bigger friend than iHeart in more ways than people know.

iHeart owns 850+ stations in 150 markets and had plenty of need for audience ratings.

That was before “dislocation” and “excellence centers”.

iHeart is owned by the same people who own a large chunk of Nielsen.

Yet, it is becoming more evident that Nielsen may wind up the ironic victim of the very thing that helped it grow – consolidation.

iHeart’s competitors will be directly impacted by forces that will upend the radio industry once again and redefine how radio will prove effectiveness to advertisers.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

The second attempt to sell Townsquare is over but the company’s financial troubles are just beginning.

If we know this, certainly their private equity owners are aware of it.  Townsquare didn’t try that sale “Hail Mary” for nothing.

They reportedly paid Houlihan Lokey somewhere between $50-100,000 to in effect tell them what everyone already knew – there are no buyers.

But now that Townsquare is forced to operate as is, they have debt problems that could be the biggest challenge to the company’s viability since it went public.

This has huge repercussions for not only their employees, but competitors in markets where they currently operate and for investors who are still drinking the Kool-Aid that Townsquare is a digital company.

No company tries to sell itself two times – unsuccessfully at that – unless they know something they don’t want to talk about.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

The term “dislocation” used to replace the word “firing” is tone deaf but on Wall Street, they understand its true meaning.

Since it was introduced last month when iHeart “dislocated’ over 1,000 employees, the focus has been on iHeart’s sale to Liberty Media.

But there is a similar iHeart-attack waiting for their competitors that is designed to force them into economies of scale and make it more difficult for them to break even.

These plans are as ruthless as what they unleashed on their own employees, but this is a desperate company waiting to be taken over and ready to play a new kind of hardball with competitors.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

This is the start of the real selloff not the New York, LA and Atlanta station giveaways previously.

Financial problems continue to plague Cumulus.

Market managers are complaining about being strapped by cost-cutting.

Now we learn that the post-bankruptcy Cumulus owners consisting largely of lenders who took a haircut are done with a declining radio industry.

They want their money at all costs and employees are about to feel their urgency.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

What a mess.

Founder Larry Wilson intended for Alpha Media to be everything iHeart was not – live and local and soundly invested in carefully chosen mid-sized radio markets.

But in his haste to do an IPO, Wilson bought a micro-market company known as Digity and the high price of adding insignificant small market stations put Alpha underwater ever since.

Wilson was kicked aside.  Paul Stone came to his financial rescue and took over control.

Now, even Stone may get burned as a new owner is waiting in the wings and their goal is not live and local but buy and sell.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

This is getting to be a habit – Townsquare trying to sell itself.

A few years ago, they tried and found no takers.

We’ve learned this time, they actually had interested potential buyers but the prospects reportedly didn’t like the way they were handled.

The last prospect standing finally walked a few weeks ago.

What’s fascinating is not so much the usual considerations, but Townsquare’s unorthodox way of trying to sell itself.

Now Townsquare’s owners, Brookfield Asset Management, has a real problem.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

So much for all that podcasting revenue, Entercom is desperate for cash.

That’s why it practically gave away a Boston FM station to EMF yesterday and why in spite of what David Field tells analysts, Entercom has deep financial problems.

But the headlines don’t tell the full story.

The desperation sale of WAAF-FM may seem like a one-off but the company reportedly has plans to sell more stations as the failed CBS merger and the decline of radio in a boom economy have finally caught up to Entercom.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Firing over 1,000 people most of whom were talent and programmers responsible for their on-air product was a gutsy move on the part of iHeart management.

Now, bolstered by the fact that their stations are still on the air with few problems and seemingly doing fine, iHeart prepares for another assault on employees.

Keep in mind that the January firings were not limited to programming and talent, they sneaked in over 50 engineering and IT RIFs as well as non-air related firings as part of the massive layoff.

“Dislocation” helps iHeart make up for declines in revenue that are expected all through 2020.

iHeart has apparently isolated the next victims of “dislocation” based on how virtually seamless the January firings went and it now appears iHeart has decided where to cut next. 

Read the full article now

Newstips  

It’s only been about a month since iHeart ejected more than 1,000 employees, mostly programming and air talent.

Under the shock of the most massive single firing in the history of radio, iHeart also slipped in more than 50 “dislocations” of engineers/IT people, put the ball in motion on a plan to downsize 150 studios and offices in their clusters over the next three years to cookie-cutter suites that are the same in every market making it easier to plug people in anywhere with no virtual learning curve.

And they’re not done.

Katz is their massive rep firm, a virtually monopoly.

Premiere is their syndication arm.

Total Traffic grinds out traffic reports to an audience that has no trouble downloading Waze.

All this as Liberty times its takeover of iHeart and “dislocations” for these businesses that were unthinkable even a month ago are coming soon.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Larry Wilson is really pissed for unceremoniously getting kicked to the curb.

There is one investor who seriously wants to get out.

And one who wants to do just about anything to take over the company.

And we know exactly how this will play out because that one person is planning to win Alpha for himself using the same strategy he employed in the takeover of another radio company he rescued.

Based on that, you can see the future of Alpha Media more clearly now especially the extreme measures some are willing to employ to get control.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Sooner or later this had to happen.

But sooner?  Really?

With over 1,000 “dislocations” accomplished, iHeart has a plan to eat away at other jobs and make it harder for those who survived the first cut to do theirs. 

Some of the second wave of “cost efficiencies” even go beyond the so-called “excellence centers” (regional hubs) and fitting out new offices and studios in virtually all of their 150 clusters – actually, they’ve already started that.

This is worse because it’s going to happen sooner.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Next to iHeart’s $5.8 billion, $1.8 billion in debt doesn’t look all that bad.

But it is hurting Entercom even as the company rushes to cut operating expenses because their debt keeps growing – not something they want to draw attention to.

When radio groups make debt payments by selling assets and redirecting some of the profit to de-lever debt, that’s one thing.

But the mark of a company that has “good bones” is when they pay down debt from cash flow.

Short of that, Entercom expenses must be cut deeper and the fastest way to do that is “dislocations” – the kind iHeart did.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Could it get any more disruptive than this?

The only company that can buy iHeartMedia is now slow rolling that acquisition.

Liberty Media is serious enough having purchase an estimated 30-35% of iHeart debt when the company was in bankruptcy.  That debt can be converted into equity.

Liberty wants to add iHeart’s terrestrial radio stations to their multimedia platform that includes SiriusXM, Live Nation and Pandora.

Meanwhile iHeart “dislocates” over 1,000 employees in one week and concocts “excellence centers” to initiate more layoffs.  Why, if a new owner is coming in?

This begs the question is iHeart doing all of this with Liberty’s approval or does Liberty have other plans for iHeart when it takes over?

Read the full article now

Newstips  

That will get the attention of radio CEOs who confuse the glass ceiling for a piggy bank.

Cumulus will reportedly get hit with a reverse discrimination lawsuit that involves the increasing radio practice of firing male market managers and replacing them with younger people usually less experienced women.

This same cost cutting technique has been reportedly going on at Entercom in an attempt to reduce expenses and iHeart just “dislocated” over 1,000 people creating a potential boom for lawyers.

The bombshell Cumulus lawsuit is massive in scope – 6 charges.

All it takes is a court victory and there will be a flood of copycat lawsuits setting an unnerving precedent and making it easier and less expensive for claimants to sue.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

They’re kidding, right?

The company that maintained and grew a $20 billion plus debt for years, is now preoccupied with lowering its debt.

iHeart just did another refinance that they claim is at lower interest rates – remember, iHeart’s kick the can down the road strategy came with a high interest rate price.

Then dropped $200 million on dubious podcasting investments last year and paid for it this year with over 1,000 employee job “dislocations”.

Liberty is slow rolling iHeart on taking majority ownership but they are the buyers in waiting and Pittman knows it.

This obsession with debt reduction is the canary in the coal mine about iHeart’s advanced warning of danger ahead.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

If you still don’t believe that Bob Pittman is as serious as an iHeart-attack to eliminate the expenses related to local radio, maybe this will help.

First, he pulled the trigger on over 1,000 “dislocations”.

Now he plans office and studio “relocations” that are so important to their plan that they are greenlighting them in certain markets.

But all markets will reportedly get these 150 cookie-cutter office/studios on a time schedule that is very ambitious and dependent on the peculiarities of some clusters.

By the end of this year after more “relocations” are forced on employees, we will also get a look at what the physical iHeart station of the future will look like.

It’s important because all the other radio groups that tend to adopt iHeart tactics will be eying it up as well.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

They may not be called “dislocations” but they look like it.

Of course, Field’s job is safe and his compensation goes up regularly even as the company’s stock goes down.  It is worth only $4.27.

Before the coronavirus started messing with the stock market, Entercom was slipping down again apparently because of a different virus -- their fourth quarter revenue is apparently unimpressive and the market knows these things.

So Entercom will be implementing a strategy that will eliminate a lot of local talent under the cover of iHeart’s recent 1,000+ “dislocations”.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Well, that didn’t take long, did it?

Small market Tyler Media blew away most of its air staff on a number of stations in the Oklahoma City cluster.  Their talk station opting for out of market programming and air personalities on their music stations fired to save money.

You see why I have called Bob Pittman’s 1,000+ “dislocations” in a less than a week “the end of local radio.”

iHeart is providing cover for every underperforming owner who can’t pay the bills to make “dislocation” the new layoffs.

That’s bad, but it gets worse.

Only a few groups have insulation against iHeart’s virus-like action against local radio but the list of groups now planning massive cutbacks under the cover of iHeart’s first move is growing.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

A new plan that is currently being tested under the radar is critical to iHeart’s eventual move to reduce the local sales headcount with an eye toward eliminating all their commissions, health benefits and expenses.

Bob Pittman appears to be a serious as an iHeart-attack in aggressively reducing the biggest expense in the company – salaries.

Revenue is down are likely to stay down in the future thus the need to cut costs and increase EBITDA, a measure of financial health for companies.

Pittman’s test effort to replace local sellers with a new strategy is being done under the radar and the impact could be disastrous for salespeople in iHeart and their competitors who are likely to be watching closely.

One look at their test site will speak volumes.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

There’s blood in the water now that Bob Pittman has actually gone there and reportedly fired over 1,000 programmers and air talent.

Pittman is doing it to get ready for Liberty’s (SiriusXM, Pandora, Live Nation) takeover of terrestrial radio.

David Field is doing it because there is no buyer for Entercom and revenue is slipping.

Under the cover of iHeart’s “excellence centers” and employee “dislocations”, Entercom is ready to move quickly to cut costs in what may be an even more dramatic way.

The coming Entercom cuts target two areas – one of which iHeart has missed, at least for now.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

iHeart is moving like lightning to “dislocate” even more employees than originally thought.

In fact, we have reporting that shows model markets where a startling few number of on-air and programming people run entire clusters.

Not as drastic in the big seven markets that bring in between 30-40% of all iHeart’s radio revenue, but there too.

Meanwhile Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio has written to Bob Pittman protesting the drastic cutbacks (Brown’s letter here).

That has no chance of stopping what we’re seeing unfold now in iHeart markets that is absolutely mindboggling.

In other words – here is their template for local radio.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Note:  Yesterday our website was down most of the day.  For me it was like my transmitter being off the air for 30 seconds – an eternity.  My readers were really ribbing me.  One said, “don’t pay the ransom” alluding to the Entercom cyberattacks where David Field is rumored to have paid the hackers.  Another reader suggested that Bob Pittman “dislocated” me for the stories I wrote about their employee atrocities.

So here it is – the story you may have missed when Inside Music Media went missing:

iHeart Planning 2^nd Programming RIF

Just 10 days after eliminating over 1,000 radio jobs – mostly programming positions – iHeart is at work on a second reduction of force.

There is the expected takeover of iHeart by Liberty Media but why would iHeart do Liberty’s dirty work?

With 12,500 employees – including part-timers – now down to just above 11,000, how is it even possible that such a massive platform of 150 clusters, 850+ stations and related businesses be reduced any further?

They have a plan for that.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

When Bob Pittman and Rich Bressler emailed the iHeart staff about firing over 1,000 live employees, they referred to artificial intelligence (AI) and technology that enabled them to thin the ranks of employees and make surviving employees work better.

In the one week since, over 1,000 employees were eliminated and that’s just the beginning.

iHeart is reportedly preparing to reduce its workforce further by employing technology and AI.

This is a giant leap into an area that up until now has been foreign to radio.

What technology is iHeart sitting on that will be used to reduce its current 12,500 workforce by one-half?

Read the full article now

Newstips  

With over 1,000 programming “dislocations” complete, iHeart has a reportedly disconcerting plan for 150 markets where they operate 850+ stations.

The programming firings were not the last – there will be more.

iHeart has approximately 12,000 employees (including part-timers) and they are under pressure to drastically reduce that number ahead of a Liberty Media takeover.

Market managers are their most expensive employees except for a few talent contracts so they reportedly have a plan to not only thin the ranks but totally upend the position of market manager for the first time in decades.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Bob Pittman must be tone deaf to even allow the use of the term “employment dislocation” to describe the mass firings iHeart initiated this week.

Yesterday, he put three additional new “division” PDs in place to join the existing group that will in effect program iHeart stations without local program directors and talent.

Now that the firings are mounting, it appears that the initial estimate of casualties was too low.

Based on what is unfolding, the number of RIFed programming personnel will be much higher.

We’ve done the math and plugged in their new management structure and it’s not pretty. 

Keep in mind this is only round one and it is still in progress this morning.

This week’s iHeart mass firings is turning out to be deeper than originally thought.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

• In the wake of iHeart’s first wave of firing over 1,000 employees, there is a plan afoot to further cutdown the number of people in their 850+ markets.
• What’s significant is that iHeart’s apparent plan calls for the removal of even more local management and talent.
• Where do market managers fit in – iHeart has a plan for that.
• What about regional execs – iHeart has a history of juggling regionals around but we are learning of a change there, too.
• There’s only one really secure job at iHeart right now and if you don’t have it, you’re likely gone eventually as the move is on to downsize the largest radio group.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Bob Pittman must have no shame. 

On the day he gives the go-ahead to axe over 1,000 employees, his press release promotes the company and attempts to justify these people losing their jobs.

“Excellence centers” as replacements for arguably the most excellent large radio group on a local station basis.

Over 1,000 firings are underway with programming virtually eviscerated.  It’s not about excellence, it’s about the sudden need to drastically cut expenses.

What we know is how far iHeart is going to go, who will be spared for now and the reason for the sudden rush to end so many careers.

Read the full article now

Newstips 

This is the worst reduction in force at one time ever even going back to iHeart’s Clear Channel days.

And even though I have been warning of what iHeart will look like under Liberty Media’s ownership, if radio had a Richter Scale, what iHeart is about to set into motion is a 10.

What’s worse, once iHeart does something, the lemmings at Entercom, Cumulus and elsewhere are not likely to continue to have a mind of their own.

iHeart is going to eliminate, consolidate and centralize on a massive level at one time.

The markets that are most vulnerable (and that’s about 85% of them) are going to be devastated – there’s no other word for it.

All this as the Liberty takeover looms and we get a real look at what the radio industry will be like as part of a multi-media platform.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Well, that didn’t take long, did it?

One of the best run, humane family media companies is set to become Clear Channel Lite.

You’re thinking of a few beginning of the year adjustments in staff?

They’re thinking bigger.

As we informed subscribers a few months ago, once the deal went through to sell Cox’s media division to Apollo Global Management, the new private equity owners had their own plans.

The specifics are ugly for managers, PDs and a certain category of skilled Cox people who have made it such an excellent company.

So, the question is how badly are they going to wreck this excellent company and in particular, the radio division?

Read the full article now

Newstips  

As predicted, Cumulus CEO Mary Berner allowed CFO John Abbot to fall on his sword yesterday and leave the company.

No immediate replacement is being named.

All of this plus Cumulus’ increasing tendency to adjust revenue figures and “paint lipstick on a pig” has led to speculation that either Abbot won’t put up with it any longer and he resigned or Abbot wouldn’t put up with it any longer and his contract was not renewed.

In either case, investors should be prying their eyes wide open on this one because it means something more than just a personnel change.

In spite of Berner’s happy talk about Abbot no longer having to make the long commute to Atlanta, the real story is scary different.

Read the full article now

Newstips  

Ransom payments  | The cost |  Effect on payroll | Fix date

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Sensing a buyer

Time left under the current auction

The main objection

Who covets Townsquare’s digital dominance

Read the full article now 

Newstips  

• How much is Entercom demanding local markets cut immediately.
• What are the surprise expenses that are actually going up at the same time?
• Which revenue stream is now being revised downward?

Read the full article now 

Newstips  

What’s the Real Reason for Their New Year’s Eve Mass Firings?

Why the Sudden Panic at Beasley?

What Happened to their Greater Media Merger?

What are Beasley’s Next Moves?

Read the full article now

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What Really Happened the Second Time?

What Cannot Be Restored – Ever

What Caused Another Cyber Attack

Who David Field is Blaming (it’s not himself)

What Did the Ransom “Screen” Say – Here It Is

Read the full article now 

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How It Happened

How All Encompassing Was It?

How It’s Being Handled

How Employees Are Exposed

What to Expect Next

Entercom’s Response

Are These Hacks an Inside Job?

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• Tough non-competes are nothing new to radio – iHeart, Cumulus, Entercom and others are more than willing to dismiss people they don’t need and then prevent them from working in return for severance – often a mere pittance.
• Summit Media has gone the big consolidators one better – or worse – with the most restrictive non-compete ever and now the big radio groups are taking notice.

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• Mary Berner says revenue is up, ratings are great, expenses are being cut, podcasting is killing it and Cumulus has now become an audio company.
• But she’s hiding four important things that should have investors and employees really worried.

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• Aspen meetings, corporate pep talks -- what is going wrong and how corporate is dealing with their nagging problems.
• Where’s Weezie?She’s responsible for revenue at Entercom – what’s up?
• The Entercom exec who could be the next Weezie.
• Is an Entercom shakeup – a reboot – in the works?

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• What’s going on here? A venture capital group buys a media company and keeps it so together than nothing changes. Or does it?
• No one is being fired, just a change of ownership – is Apollo a rare venture firm that doesn’t produce cost synergy cuts? Can Cox employees be sure of this?
• Is Apollo like Bain or a “forever” owner?
• And just to be sure, what is the doomsday scenario for Cox Media Group’s new owners. 

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• How market managers are being instructed to run their local markets.
• Why corporate is going to double down on squeezing market managers.
• How Cumulus is taking a page out of iHeart’s post-bankruptcy book.
• What changes can be expected as Cumulus heads for liquidation.

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• On the surface, Townsquare looks like the little engine that could compared to iHeart, Entercom and Cumulus especially in digital, but are they turning it around?
• How they are withholding revenue figures that show a revealing picture.
• Why the big push to make it appear Townsquare is outperforming the larger radio groups.
• Can they manage their debt while iHeart, Entercom and Cumulus can’t manage theirs?
• How selling the company fits in to their new CEO’s plans.

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• iHeart is the best large radio group in the industry, so what does its CEO’s plan to stop being a radio company really mean?
• The biggest reason advertisers won’t buy iHeart ads spurring a decline in revenue.
• How iHeart plans to change the way it sells radio advertising while holding on to predatory pricing tactics.
• Why iHeart’s blueprint is a stop gap – here is when new owners are likely to take over. 

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• Entercom is laying off employees at a faster pace than any other radio group.
• Why David Field is so desperate to cut expenses and accelerate rolling layoffs.
• The 6 targeted areas where Entercom is paving the way for mass cutbacks.
• Entercom’s war on morning personalities.

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INSIDE …

• Everyone knows Cumulus doctors their revenue figures to make them look better, but savvy analysts have unmasked the real numbers.
• For example, the actual reason why they sold WPLJ-FM, New York and other major market stations is not what you think it is.
• What’s the real EBITDA – they say it’s $230 million, here’s the real number.
• How Cumulus is capitalizing commissions for new local revenue contracts which would have the impact of decreasing operating expenses.
• Why did Cumulus just recently sell a telling $500 million bond at 6.75% -- if you said to raise more money, you’ve only got half of it (and not the main reason).

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• Here’s what Entercom is covering up when they try to assuage a really bad second quarter, and another quarterly letdown.
• What Entercom intends to do about David Field’s $110 million cost cutting merger synergies problem.
• How specifically Entercom is hiding its poor performance.
• Why it’s hard to believe their quarter revenue projections now – here are the real figures without lipstick on them.
• Remember David’s promise of $500 million EBITDA, then $400 million, $300 million – here’s where it is right now and what’s their leverage.

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• I know, you don’t believe it – and I didn’t either until it was reconfirmed.
• What’s up with the future of iHeart when they are reportedly firing in the name of a so-far unidentified new owner. Did they know something and say something?
• Which two divisions were hardest hit in the latest firings that have not been made public in the radio trades?
• What about age discrimination suspicions – did iHeart even go there? What we know at this point.
• The shameless line that was reportedly being used to make it seem like iHeart’s new owners wanted them fired.

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• Things are going from bad to worse with each revenue miss – how David Field is now starting to outsource to India to cut expenses.
• What outsourcing to India means for Entercom employees.
• But wait – at the beginning of this week iHeart started outsourcing, too – here’s where and what is expected to spread throughout the company.
• Is David Field looking to acquire more stations.
• What Field is saying about revised plans for cutbacks going forward.

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• Entercom did not become a $4 stock yesterday as expected, it became a low $3 stock (for a while $2) – what spooked investors and why they are bailing on Entercom.
• No, David didn’t just do that! How David Field did the exact worse thing that he could do to reassure investors.
• More bad news on the declining CBS all-news franchise.
• Where’s Weezie?She’s supposed to be driving revenue, does such a big miss mean her head will roll?
• If you insist on owning a radio stock, here’s the one to buy.
• What’s next for Entercom Communications.

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• The 6 fatal errors that drove Entercom’s top revenue producer from first to 7^thplace for the first time in decades under David Field’s management.
• Founder and now former owner Jerry Lee gave the one secret to staying number one to Entercom – here’s the advice they rejected.
• Shareholder alert -- How decisions are being made about big revenue producers like WBEB that are beginning to erode Entercom ratings and revenue.
• The hilarious rumor about how and why Field changed WBEB’s name from “More FM” back to “B-101.1” that could illustrate capricious decision-making and lack of strategic thinking.

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• This dramatic plan to stay alive while burdening too much debt.
• How iHeart showed its hand last week on what it plans to do going forward.
• Even without a new buyer, circumstances have now changed for iHeart forcing some painful decisions.
• What hopeful buyers need to know before they take the bait.
• The chances of iHeart keeping all or most of its 850+ stations.

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• David Field, the same person who is pushing $110 million in CBS Radio cost synergies appears to have a secret spending problem.
• Examples of what Field thinks is worth spending on for the future of Entercom.
• What stakeholders don’t know – they are looking at debt, losses, revenue and not secret expenditures of the type explained here.
• How one Entercom major market station continues its demise because they can’t spend the money they need to turn it around.
• Meanwhile the list of CBS employees leaving is getting longer – here’s a major CBS employee who is leaving soon but few know it.

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• Keep an eye on Bob Pittman – in running all of his previous companies Pittman knew the exact time to depart – how that applies to iHeart now.
• Why iHeart can’t continue the way it is for very much longer – how much longer?
• What’s on the table in dealing iHeart – the entire company or this handful of attractive assets.
• As I have said previously, Liberty Media wants iHeart and now we know how far they are willing to go to put themselves in the best position to steal it.
• What their market managers know about the sale of iHeart.

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• The next shoe is ready to drop – here’s where.
• I’ve been tickled by how Cumulus is taking what little they get for WPLJ and other major market stations saying the proceeds are being used to pay down debt – but here’s the truth about who is really getting the proceeds.
• When will Cumulus finally acquire a station instead of just sell them as they’ve been promising -- the board is under pressure to reshape Cumulus – here’s how.
• How Cumulus is looking like Reader’s Digest, Mary Berner’s first bankruptcy.
• Lew Dickey, Townsquare and the new Cumulus – what they all have in common now.

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• Jeff Smulyan is sitting on $100 million from the 76% sale of Hot 97 and WBLS in New York.  Here’s what he’s aiming to do with it.
• Smulyan is a radio guy so is he shopping for station sales that are steals?
• Why split the radio company from whatever comes next – here’s the reason.
• And what’s up with this guy Soo Kim of Standard General – I am hearing that he likes radio at fire sale prices and he’s got a lot of money. Is he a buyer of more distressed properties?
• To be painfully honest, is all this the end of Emmis or the beginning?

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• I’ve got the revenue info for you for 2^ndquarter 2019 compared to 2018 – important because this is the “pig” Entercom will be putting the “lipstick” on soon for analysts.
• Best and worst markets, flat ones, troubling trends – not touched up by spin.
• How Entercom will hide the major market revenue losses.
• Now you see what investors are worried about – where revenue fails, why Entercom quarterly comparisons can’t be believed and the latest on their debt problems.
• City by city revenue trends – the real trends – and why they are up or down.

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Yesterday Entercom stock (ETM) lost yet another 20 cents driving it to within 50 cents of being a $4 stock.

I have said many times over that the market knows a bad deal when they see it and from virtually the moment the CBS merger was announced Entercom stock crashed from the $16 range to $5.53 where it closed yesterday.

I’d like to have a dollar for every CBS survivor or victim purged by David Field who warned that Field was screwing up a merger so good all he had to do was essentially stay out of the way.

That didn’t happen and now even more information is coming forward to confirm that many if not most of what’s wrong with Entercom comes from forced errors that did not have to happen.

What’s worse, there are more huge mistakes that even investors don’t know about until this morning.

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• Entercom stock is less than a dollar away from being worth only $4 – what is the public market fearing about Entercom.
• Think the CBS firings have stopped – think again.  An update.
• Why a CBS exec thinks CEO David Field is “guilty of malpractice”.
• Sports was to be a big part of Entercom’s revenue, now this revelation.
• And the one thing that absolutely cannot happen without Entercom’s revenue taking a huge hit is if 1010 WINS and/or other all-news money machines slip. Well, are they?

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• Alright, Pittman and Bressler got most of what they wanted in bankruptcy, now almost 3 months later the 3 things that threaten to drive iHeart into ANOTHER bankruptcy.
• What happens to the company now?
• All radio companies are experiencing hard times right now, so what happens next if iHeart can’t service their new, reduced debt load (from $16 billion to $5.75b).
• How long before Bob Pittman’s $100 million bet on podcasting pays off?
• What are the new iHeart revenue initiatives in the pipeline?

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Just last week, a capital investor known as WY Capital put out a puff piece on Entercom calling it “Another Unappreciated Radio Company”.

The fantasy piece was so pro-Entercom that it could have been written by David Field himself.

It’s not known whether Entercom paid WY Capital for setting the record straight but that is a practice that is employed in the investment world these days.

Why all the happy talk now?

Why has David Field’s father, founder Joe Field, spent nearly $12 million in the first six months of this year alone to prop up Entercom’s drooping stock price?

If Entercom is so worried, what are they so worried about now?

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• A Zombie company is one that needs bailouts in order to operate, or an indebted company that is able to repay the interest on its debts but not repay the principal – what went wrong at Connoisseur.
• What did the principals have to pay to rescue Connoisseur from their chief lender.
• So, what happens now – selling assets like Cumulus, swapping or buying stations.
• What’s the real deal – what does the burned equity lender get?
• What does the Warshaw led management group get?
• And what about Warshaw’s alleged connection to the Cumulus reorganization – exposed here.

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New York is almost gone – one more FM is in the process of being sold.

Atlanta and LA have been eviscerated along with other Cumulus stations that are able to be sold for whatever the market can bring which in these cases amounts to deep discounts.

The biggest dilemma for Mary Berner and her new board of directors who were forced to take over ownership when Cumulus couldn’t make their debt payments is whether to stay or whether to go.

A bellwether market for Cumulus is San Francisco where things are happening so fast that the company may be forced into emergency mode soon.

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Kagan is estimating that $771 million of radio deals were done in the second quarter.

They are guessing at multiples like the 7 times forward cash flow for Cox FMs and 6 times for AMs, a generous estimate at that.

And there’s the Meruelo steal of Cumulus’ KLOS for only $43 million in LA and other insulting offers taken by opportunists who believe now is the time to start buying radio again.

The big guys are on the ropes but a troubling trend for smaller market owners is also emerging.

Take the Stephens takeover of Mapleton.

When you look inside the deal, it presents a scary scenario for a segment of radio markets that are thought to be bulletproof.

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Most of New York and Washington are gone, LA is gone.

Cumulus continues to liquidate its assets as their lenders who in essence became the new owners after taking a $2 billion bankruptcy haircut assess whether they even want to be in the radio business.

Now there is new reporting on Dallas, other major markets and big corporate assets.

What the company is saying publicly and what is reportedly going on behind the scenes are two different things.

If Cumulus sells its network or prosperous revenue producing markets like Dallas will they be able to remain a going concern?

So, which one is it going to be? 

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Emmis sold ¾ of its New York stations, retains ¼ ownership and gets paid to manage them.

Cox sells TV and radio and retains minority ownership and management stays in place.

There’s a trend developing here to take advantage of declining station prices and help owners get out of the debt business.

In fact, there’s a third group thought to be ready to sell partial ownership next.

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If you thought the sale price for WABC, New York was shocking, how it came about is more shocking.

Even as WABC goes, Cumulus has reportedly distributed brokerage “books” out on stations some of which they claim are not for sale.

And there’s this -- two more Cumulus stations are likely to be given away to the best offer they can get within the next 30 days.

Employees are panicked.

And freaked out by the change in the way Cumulus is reportedly treating its employees during the asset selloff.

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Cox Radio went to the group that bought its TV stations earlier and specifically did not want radio.

What lead to Apollo Global Management suddenly changing their mind?

There were a lot of other potential buyers (radio groups) interested in Cox stations but not in the usual way.

Did Cox leave money on the table?  Who was the runner up?

So now with a venture capital firm running the show, what happens next to the well-run and profitable Cox radio stations now?

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If there is one constant in the radio industry, it is that since consolidation was allowed in 1996, local radio jobs have been eliminated every year.

The estimate at Clear Channel/iHeart is somewhere north of 15,000 local radio jobs lost since then and even the less aggressive operators have succumbed to less local and little or no live.

Some markets have empty studios in what looks like a ghost town.

It turns out consolidators have an answer for what to do with the remaining footprint of local radio.

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• What’s the status of a total or partial Westwood One sale?
• Is Dallas for sale or isn’t it? 
• Mary Berner vs. the Cumulus board – a look at a crazy next 7 months.

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There’s no denying Entercom has been laying people off especially in programming for most of the first half of this year.

Jenny Q and Blake Powers were blown out Friday at KLUV, Dallas.

Jenny Q did middays.

Powers nights.

And so the pattern of firing former CBS staffers that Entercom thinks are superfluous.

But there is a next wave coming as Entercom anticipates not making its numbers again as the year progresses.

This time David Field goes where few consolidators have been willing to go to save money.

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• Obscure and unintelligible claims like the really important thing they left out of their claim to have saved $45 million in the first quarter.
• Hiding why Entercom was forced to buy expensive debt that doesn’t benefit shareholders.
• Proof CFO Schmaeling and CEO Field are not on the same page.

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• Shock deal:The market Cumulus would sell in a New York minute.
• What is the Cumulus business plan now that they have vacated key markets?
• Are the rumors true about Cumulus’ next big move?

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• The buyer waiting for the right moment.
• The painful next move for the current owners.
• The jaw-dropping likely sale price.

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• What this means for markets that will become “hubs” and those that will become “spokes”.
• How programming, management and sales shakeups will go down.
• The future of sales commissions at Entercom.

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• The push to force reluctant stations into programmatic selling
• The one-sided arbitrage that lines Katz’ pockets
• How the take-it-or-leave-it offer actually works

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David Field is starting to sweat.

He’s ordering severe layoffs right now because he promised lenders $110 million in cost savings when Entercom took over CBS Radio and two years later, the actual realized savings is approximately half that.

No radio consolidator has ever promised and actually delivered cost synergies that ambitious probably because it is dangerous to do so but Field’s world is beginning to get uncomfortable.

The stock has lost more than $10 a share since the merger was announced, Field’s EBITDA growth figures have been consistently devalued and Entercom is in the same industry with iHeart and Cumulus – one that is selling advertising for less than it is worth making it impossible to deliver consistent year-over-year revenue growth.

The dew is off the lily for Field which is why his plans to shrink expenses will soon be right up there with iHeart and Cumulus.

Dig deeper into Entercom's severe cutback plans

So, let’s get this straight.

Emmis sells its 50.1% interest in its Austin radio properties for $39.3 million.

That’s only about $3 million less than Cumulus got for KLOS-FM, Los Angeles, a storied station in the second largest market.

And much more than Cumulus got for one legendary WPLJ-FM, New York that was bundled with WRQX-FM, Washington and WYAY, Atlanta with three more smaller market stations thrown in for the low, low price of $103.5 million devaluing WPLJ to garbage status.

And then yesterday, Beasley buys WDMK-FM, Detroit and three translators thrown in for only $13.5 million – and yes, I get that Detroit is not New York or LA or even Austin but something is seriously wrong with the radio industry with fire sales like these going on.

If the good stuff is selling for pennies on the dollar, how does that value the rest of the radio industry?

Cumulus was working on the WPLJ sale for months only to just give it away.

What other stations are on the block and under the radar?

But wait, has the market finally bottomed out for radio stations?

And is it a good time to buy?

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From almost day one David Field has been telling investors and lenders that there are lots of financial savings to be realized once the two companies merge.

In fact, Field upped his predictions from $25 million in cost cuts all the way to $100 million and even later added another $10 million on top of that.

So far best estimates show approximately half of that $110 million in cutback savings has been reached – some of them came from CBS which was coerced to do them by Field prior to the merger.

Now Field is having a tough time grinding out more savings which sounds like great news for current CBS employees who want to hold on to their jobs except it isn’t.

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• Liberty has been buying iHeart debt at pennies on the dollar

• iHeart isn’t necessarily against a Liberty takeover

• The iHeart board has open spots for Liberty appointees

• Can Liberty be stopped?

• Other potential buyers

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• Why is Entercom under-performing two years after the CBS merger?
• What happens if they can’t turn it around soon?
• Investors will not remain patient indefinitely.

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If you caught any of the farewell jock appearances on WPLJ late last week, you heard more radio personality that exists in an entire lifetime on the air for one last goodbye.

It was odd to hear Scott Shannon with Todd Pettengill together considering that Pettengill reportedly went to Cumulus and supposedly offered to take over the WPLJ show for a lot less money getting Shannon fired.

Still, for a few final days the airwaves oozed of what makes radio great – personality and that station had tons of it from the early Allen Shaw ABC days up to and including Cumulus, the company that sold WPLJ for a quick buck.

There was a time when a good morning show drove 50-60% of the total stations revenue but consolidators found a way to weaken these important shows in the name of saving money.

But it’s heading in the wrong direction again.

Radio groups can’t make their revenue numbers without adjusting them to look better.  You saw how Entercom dumped in all that heavy billing from WBEB which it purchased in Philadelphia late last year totally misrepresenting year over year revenue.

Now, faced with more declining revenue, hard-pressed group owners are revisiting ways to cut the great expense of paying for talent in the morning.

They’ve already tried syndication, promoting second bananas to take the helm and other strategies.

Bean counters are readying some frightening new ways to diminish or replace talent driven morning shows.

Don’t even ask.

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In a Midwest market very recently, Cumulus paid a 50% commission to one of the top barter and remnant agencies to secure a buy.

For years, barter and trade have been rearing its ugly head in radio at the hands of desperate radio groups looking to grab whatever ad dollars they can even at the overall expense of the industry.

All of this in a boom economy!

Can you imagine what would happen to radio if an economic downturn feared by economists currently actually kicked in?

So right now, trade and remnant advertising is hitting new highs or should we say new lows.

The rules are being re-written on the fly and one gigantic change that will make matters absolutely worse has taken off with a vengeance. 

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Radio has not been able to successfully launch an IPO for years now.

Think Alpha Media.

So why are iHeart and Cumulus even trying now when there is even less interest on the part of lenders and investors?

iHeart signaled some type of public offering in their bankruptcy.

And now it appears Cumulus, out of bankruptcy but not out of financial trouble, may be on the verge of having what iHeart is having.

There are two IPO options to look for – it will be one of these.

How iHeart’s IPO will be priced.

How the Cumulus IPO must deal with distressed debt partners.

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They’re kidding, right?

A special waiver to allow foreign investors to own 100% of Cumulus?

Or at least some of it.

Why now and why look to offshore financing?

Their stock is trading at close to $17 – and they just dumped $1 billion in debt out of bankruptcy – so what’s driving this sudden move.

What if the FCC says no?

The repercussions at Cumulus clusters – will there be more nationalizing local jobs, cutting costs, etc.

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It’s hard to believe with its purchase of KXOS-FM, Los Angeles, Meruelo is a dominant player in the second largest market with its fifth radio station.

All it took was money of which Meruelo has plenty thanks to the casino business.

And radio stations desperate to sell at pennies on the dollar.

Of which the industry has many owners waiting in the wings.

But that alone is not the future of radio.

Meruelo becomes a big player in LA.

Now what other markets do they need to be in.

These people have a plan that is so unlike that of traditional radio owners that it deserves a closer look.

What the radio industry is looking for next after consolidation may be what Meruelo is doing.

Why are they so bullish on a radio industry barely able to break even?

Here’s the next piece of the puzzle. 

What the greater radio industry should go to school on now that consolidation has failed.

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Cumulus is back in financial hot water.

Real operating cash flow numbers have been revealed.

The local revenue and trade numbers without adjustments.

They’ve had to trade more and report it as cash revenue – here is that number.

Their recent firing of hundreds of traffic directors is juxtaposition against real expense figures that they legally have to disclose.

How is podcasting working out?

And what is Cumulus becoming more dependent on.

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Lew Dickey didn’t spend $260 million for Westwood One only to see it wither away like this.

Mary Berner all but announced everything is for sale at Cumulus publicly (except Dallas) but she artfully stayed away from commenting on the big elephant in the room – their underperforming radio network.

No statement of support and continued ownership.

No growth plans other than previously mentioned podcasting rep deals.

No sale sign.

Yet Westwood One has two big insurmountable problems begging the question – what are the Cumulus lenders currently overseeing the company going to do with Westwood One.

Are there any interested buyers remaining?

Why is their profit shrinking faster than anticipated?

Is there a plan for shedding Westwood One entirely in a breakup?

The mixed signals as described by those behind the scenes.

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Radio is fast adopting outsourcing as a business model.

Nothing is sacred. 

The newsroom at Entercom’s 1010 WINS for example is an expense so great that Entercom is urgently looking for ways to cut the head count down.

But now, faced with the inability to grow revenue, control costs and post a real profit that isn’t adjusted to look good, Entercom and Cumulus are ready to adopt new ways to run radio stations as if they were SiriusXM.

How programming, management and sales will be affected at these two radio groups.

Cumulus and Entercom both have ambitious outsourcing plans.

The time frame is aggressive.

Ignoring the risks they are fully aware of – one group has actually tried outsourcing experimentally and it didn’t work – how they are going through with it anyway.

The body count – first real numbers on just how many jobs will be lost in just one job description by year’s end.

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Radio buyers are hard to find these days.

Prices are going down but have yet to bottom out.

And lenders are vanishing – not high on financing radio acquisitions.

There’s EMF, Meruelo and then not too many more potential buyers available right now.

One potential buyer is Carl Parmer’s Summit Media, the company that originally bought a handful of smaller Cox market spinoffs and has been building from there.

With station prices going down, is Summit a player ready to pounce?

And what markets would they be interested in?

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Mary Berner recently sold over $100 million in prime major market radio properties to Educational Media Foundation (EMF), more to others and traded stations and/or clusters to Connoisseur and Entercom in a desperate attempt to raise money.

She settled for EMF pricing – the bottom feeders of station buyers.

And she had to give up former cash cows like Bridgeport, CT cluster because to be blunt, they fired the manager with all the know-how and revenues tanked.

The new Cumulus board may have forced Berner to start selling assets to make them more whole but the rushed way in which it was done leaves them with orphan stations, a dinged Westwood One network and AM stations they seemingly can’t give away.

What they did wrong to be left holding so many unsellable properties.

The options going forward for selling additional stations.

What Cumulus will have to do to repair the damage done to Westwood One in unloading major market stations.

And, what’s not for sale.

Read the full article now

iHeart and Cumulus may have had no choice but to resort to bankruptcy, but Entercom is flirting with even more danger than these two competitors.

The CBS Radio merger that David Field wanted to do so badly that he allowed CEO Les Moonves to dump $1.5 billion of debt on the company before he sold it has not gone well.

It’s more than mismanagement and firing the wrong CBS executives, it’s deeper.

Quarter by quarter Entercom promises a turnaround and even using “adjusted” accounting procedures, they can’t deliver causing their stock to suffer.

What was worth over $16 a share before the merger, is now in the $6 range and slips to $5 and change regularly.

Now, there is only one way to survive the last three quarters of the year and it is to slash expenses.

The cuts will come from three format groups and are likely to target all job categories but one in particular.

Read the full article now

No announcements have been made.

The radio trade press is in the dark.

Entercom is at work retooling its radio stations.

This is the same Entercom that less than two weeks ago was bragging to investors and lenders that they are growing by leaps and bounds.

Turns out David Field is running out of ways to cut costs.

The new retooling plan targets certain types of Entercom stations.

Evidence of how desperate Entercom is to save money as actual revenue falls short.

Those who are being targeted have the one thing in common.

And there is already a pattern of where these layoffs can be expected right down to the specific daypart.

Read the full article now

Several years ago, iHeart began searching for ways to annihilate their local competitors by drastically dropping rates and generously upping commissions.

It was a nuisance that competitors had to suffer.

Now, Entercom has gone all in with iHeart in a “price fixing monopoly” of sorts unlike anything ever seen before.

The price is not fixed by agreement, it’s fixed by greedy competition to drive radio rates down at all costs until one of the two predator radio groups is left standing and any third parties are effectively kept out of major buys.

How are they able to do this – burned market managers know exactly.

Why increased agency commission is becoming the new “trade”.

The three buying services leading the race to the bottom.

More shocking is what these three buying services do with the extra commissions that are the highest ever offered.

The actual year to year metrics that show the disastrous downward effect rate dropping is having on radio comparing big advertisers such as USAA and Cox.

What radio operators not named iHeart and Entercom are doing to push back.

Read the full article now

Mike McVay is gone.

And the decision to cut him loose says more about the new direction of Cumulus than it does about McVay.

McVay was hired by the previous regime hated by current CEO Mary Berner.

She stuck with him until no matter what happened because if there is one thing about Mary Berner, she protects her small but compliant management team.

So, beyond the corporate spin, what made McVay fall on his sword at this late date?

Does this mean that market managers can have renewed hope that regional VPs Bob Walker and Dave Milner will be next?

How is the removal of McVay and the uncertainty of Cumulus management related to their future plans?

Read the full article now

Last week Entercom told analysts reporting on the first quarter 2019 revenue that the company grew revenue by 43%.

Did it?  

Some Wall Street people are beginning to ask the question how is Entercom doing as good as David Field claims when their stock is hovering so close to a mere $4 a share, the acknowledged breaking point.

So, we took the un-doctored 10k filing Entercom is required to produce as a public company and we asked financial experts with high level radio experience to dig into the legal figures that Entercom cannot parse in search of the true numbers.

Is David Field telling big little lies about the merged company with CBS Radio?

How much cutting back did Entercom really do and at what level are further cost synergies accurately projected going forward.

What about cash flow – this is the true measure of a radio company’s viability – how does Entercom do on that?

Read the full article now

Here’s a man in his 70’s who is not running for president but can’t seem to give up his addiction for radio.

He built and sold Citadel for a profit.

Turned that into some seed money for Alpha which he planned to cash in on an IPO just when radio was falling out of favor with Wall Street.

Wilson was ousted from Alpha by Paul Stone, something you may want to remember as Larry reportedly wants back in with yet another group.

Not Alpha – could his new company be called Beta?

What Wilson sees that others don’t in buying radio now.

Wilson wrote an email to 141 of his closest friends – what’s in it.

Who is ready to back Larry Wilson – and you’ll need to take a seat for this one.

Read the full article now

Entercom is a company selling false narratives.

EBITDA up 42% -- but it’s not real EBITDA, it’s adjusted to make it look like growth.

Revenue barely up in the first quarter.

What happened to David Field’s promised cost synergies?

What’s Entercom’s real EBITDA using generally accepted accounting principles?

Meanwhile, there are new revelations about Entercom.

Why is it a risky investment?

How the future of the company is uncertain.

And what’s the real truth about Entercom’s financial problems.

Read the full article now

So, when last we visited Alpha Paul Stone had made a modest investment in the cash starved Alpha Media and wrestled control from founder and then CEO Larry Wilson.

Today, Stone is calling the shots.

But things are growing more desperate.

What is Stone’s plan to turnaround Alpha now?

Big decisions coming soon.

The “Cumulus” option.

What brokers are peddling now.

Read the full article now

Coming up on one year out of bankruptcy and CEO Mary Berner is presiding over a Cumulus board unsure of what to do next, her own future in doubt.

The company’s bankruptcy court valued Cumulus at $1.3 billion for the purpose of giving haircuts to lenders and other aggrieved parties.

That $1.3 billion is about even with the company’s revenues on a good day.

That means, Cumulus is presently worth nothing.

There is an explanation for the sale of great FM stations in New York, LA and DC along with a strategy to trade stations at this late date.

But there is a shocking strategy going forward if some board members get their way.

What will Cumulus sell next?

What’s the plan for making the company work and revenue grow without the major stations that they recently sold?

The real problems inside Westwood One, the only part of Cumulus that posts a modest profit and there are many.

And how critical is the split over Berner’s game plan?

Read the full article now

If you owned Entercom stock three years ago and held it today through the botched CBS Radio merger, your investment would be down 42%.

More recent news is just as bad.

Shares have been rebounding a little over the past month up 6.5% after a year of sustained underperformance.

Still Entercom is down 39.4% over the past 12 months.

What’s wrong with Entercom – how can it be this bad?

David Field’s broken promise that spooked money people.

What keeps investors up at night about the future of Entercom.

And what’s this insider buying the Field family does to boost the price up a few cents.

What are these rumbling of bankruptcy and when.

Read the full article now

Townsquare has been the radio industry joke since it came up with the idea of buying micro-small radio markets, using station help to generate digital content and enter the events business.

The events business fell on hard times and Townsquare sold it for what they could get.

Previously, they tried to sell the entire company and got no takers.

They fired their founder, appointed co-CEOs for a year (a strategy that only troubled companies embrace) and finally gave up.

The giving up part turned out to be the unexpected consequence that could be a model for other stations feeling the advertising downturn.

Why is Townsquare’s future looking up?

If no one wants to buy them at any price, why are they rebounding today?

What is Townsquare doing to successfully operate in a depressed radio market?

A tough question is – will anybody buy them now? 

Read the full article now

Cumulus is fast becoming Townsquare but without a digital strategy.

That’s awful to say but, really, it’s true.

Cumulus is selling off major market assets to get whatever it can to placate lenders who have already taken a haircut in bankruptcy.

Going forward, the future is not as predictable because there is a belief that even the people running Cumulus – and that includes the new board of directors representing the aggrieved lenders – are not sure what move to make next.

What about the option to sell more of their best revenue producing stations.

What happens to the overall company now that it has lost significant cash flow.

Then there is the problem of losing key people before they are ready to.

Why are they suddenly trading smaller markets while giving away major market class B FMs?

Which option is implemented next.

Read the full article now

David Field spent money recently for the advice of Bain Capital on how to run Entercom.

Never mind that Bain is the genius behind iHeart’s $20 billion bankruptcy.

And a main investor in Nielsen the singlehandedly most controversial way to measure real radio audiences.

What’s in the works starting soon.

Now that David has had a few weeks to digest the gist of the Bain recommendations, he’s ready to implement them and both legacy Entercom and newly-purchased CBS Radio have plenty of reasons to be concerned.

Whose jobs will not be safe under the Bain recommendations -- six job descriptions will either be virtually eliminated or drastically cut back and when it will take place.

What functions will not be affected at Entercom even after enacting Bain’s suggestions.

Bain’s recommendations on employee compensation. 

And talent fees.

Read the full article now

Entercom is supposed to be the big kahuna in sports having inherited many CBS Radio brands.

But Beasley looks like they have Entercom’s number.

The CBS sports professionals are gone from Entercom and the David Field of Dreams is now the strategy that replaced sports talk.

Suddenly, Beasley is doing things that are not just beating Entercom.

How Beasley is using the old CBS sports playbook against Entercom, the company that bought the CBS stations.

The mixed news on sports programming that makes money but drives listeners away in droves.

Just when Entercom and Beasley are betting their futures on sports, everything just changed again.

Read the full article now

There is no doubt that David Field and his top cadre are feeling pressure from the failed CBS merger and the inability to build shareholder equity for their stock.

Now it appears the pressure is being applied to local station management where itis beingredirected to employees who are performing at a high level – just not high enough to bail out top management.

How Entercom has devolved to shaming their employees.

The way they do it --- to the horror of other employees who look on in fear.

Why this could be the template for other stations.

And why Entercom is only targeting CBS stations.

Read the full article now

Cumulus is apparently willing to weaken its competitive position by selling more radio stations to pay down debt holders.

Usually radio groups do this to keep the wolf away from the door.

In the case of Cumulus, the wolf is already in the company (lenders in ill-humor) which is why they are selling off assets that would be critical to continue operation.

The $100 million raised from selling stations to Educational Media Foundation was just the beginning.

What does the 2^nd piece of the Cumulus selloff look like?

Will KLOS will be sold in round two?

What’s up with the previously scheduled “reunion” of Mark & Brain.

Has Cumulus found a buyer for standalone AM stations they no longer need such as KABC and WABC?

Westwood One’s fate.

Read the full article now

Financially-troubled Alpha Media is in the hands of investor Paul Stone and he is selling whatever he can apparently without regard to whether his surviving radio group needs the billing to remain a going concern.

Stone is experienced.

Has done this sell-off routine before and he always comes out ahead.

Now, there are plans afoot – not by Stone this time – to build another Alpha-type radio group.

Will it be local and live?

What markets is this entrepreneur scouting.

A buyer when no one other than EMF is buying stations.

Who is this masked man and what’s his plan?

Read the full article now

Voltair and then CBET were designed to improve radio listenership.

Their technology essentially presents a “louder” encoded signal that more accurately records radio listening on Nielsen portable people meter devices eliminating drop outs that can occur with certain formats like spoken word or some music formats.

After a period of denial, Nielsen introduced CBET and the radio industry has been rolling along getting credit for the listening it earned.

Or is it?

Why a new analysis indicates further problems with both Voltair and CBET technology.

How these problems could upend the ratings stations and radio groups thought they had.

What the evidence is – and it’s dramatic.

And where that leaves over 1,000 stations that until now thought they were doing themselves a favor by applying Voltair and CBET.

Read the full article now

You give David Field 22 minutes and he’ll give you a world of things that are wrong with CBS Radio.

Field has apparent resentment for CBS people and the very stations he bought.

He’s already fired lots of CBS managers, employees, talent – even people critical to his future success.

Now, Entercom is turning its attention to undoing what CBS Radio has succeeded in doing on the air.

How Entercom has begun tinkering with iconic CBS stations.

On-air changes that lay an egg and defy reason.

Read the full article now

Rumors started flying last week.

Now, it has been confirmed.

Wide-ranging iHeart downsizing of on-air talent that promises to further degrade the on-air product has begun.

Which format is being targeted?

What’s reportedly in the lengthy corporate emails describing these firings.

Why it is likely to be the first step not the last to cut costs.

And why even the survivors are going to fear that a sharp knife is coming.

Read the full article now

With iHeart, it’s all about changing the subject.

Bob Pittman’s much-touted multimedia platform that collapsed into bankruptcy was designed to take your eyes off of their $20 billion in debt.

Podcasting is promised as the future moneymaker to make up for slipping spot revenue  but it has never produced cash positive results for anyone.

“All Podcasting All the Time” stations were supposed to show iHeart putting their stations where their mouth is except they put it on only 1 out of 848 stations – in iHeart’s Allentown market on an AM station guaranteed not to attract the money demo, but still – it changes the subject from the poor job iHeart has done of managing lenders and shareholders money.

Now, they’re back selling radio like this -- “Consumers listen to the radio because the voice on the other side sounds like a friend” – their actual words in its filing from the company that brought you layoffs, voice tracking and less live and local. 

All this begs the question what kind of investor would support an IPO for a sinking ship in stormy waters?

No radio group has been able to do an IPO for years, why does iHeart think they can?

What happened to Apple and Liberty – often mentioned as wishing to takeover a terrestrial radio company.

How will iHeart stations be managed and operated if this IPO is successful.

And what if it’s not?

Read the full article now

Lawyers are involved.

There appears to be a lot of fast talk but the last thing Entercom needs is to pull out a gun and shoot itself in the foot again.

The stock is 39 cents shy of the $4 range – unthinkable when the CBS merger was announced and Entercom stock was flying high at $16.

Investors are concerned with impairment charges that Entercom is writing off to reflect the new, lower valuation of its assets.

And a fear that more impairment charges are coming as Entercom fails to put its CBS merger on track and is stifled by the same revenue decline that has affected other radio groups.

Now there is this new development …

• How the FCC caught Entercom red-handed.

• Entercom’s shocking defense.

• How a disgruntled CBS employee may have dropped a dime to turn them in. 

• The offense was bogus until the FCC sniffed around and found something else. 

Read the full article

• Mary Berner says Cumulus is turning around.
• She’s on a victory lap based on financials and ratings.
• Investors are now questioning their ratings performance.
• Leaked documents about their top ten markets.
• Blunders, missed opportunities, flat out incompetence documented.
• And in the one market where Cumulus hit it out of the park, they did the unthinkable to ruin it all making investors nervous.
• Is it finally Mike McVay’s fault?
• What’s the plan -- investors are now “woke” for answers.

Read the full article

Among brokers, the word is that almost every radio station is for sale.

That’s an over exaggeration, but it points to the desperate situation facing owners of radio stations.

The question is:  with few buyers and an industry that has been trending downward in revenue, what happens if owners who have to sell can’t find a buyer?

• Panicked sellers can’t find buyers – here’s their 3 other options.
• Why so many station owners want out so badly.
• Prices are going down and still no buyers – what’s up with that?
• No sale, no problem – look at the radio station of the future if owners have to keep them.
• The one way sellers can find a buyer this minute – today – without lowering their prices – so why are they refusing.

Read the full article

Analysts may be starting to see things my way as it relates to Entercom.

Their stock price has been sinking from a $16 high before the CBS Radio acquisition to within a quarter from being a $4 stock as of close yesterday.

And that means institutional buyers may either be forbidden from investing in “ETM” by their own rules or because they have increasing concern.

Either way the CBS merger is appearing to be the bust we called it from outset and evidence of incompetence are everywhere around the company’s attempt to clean up their mess.

• Even Wall Street is starting to turn on Entercom – their reasons, concerns, eye-popping quotes.
• What one thing that almost nobody in radio can name is worrying the financial community the most about Entercom.
• Previously untold details of how Entercom staves off the dumping of their stock – and it’s all legal if not deceiving.
• Surprising doubts percolating from fans of David Field concerning Entercom’s growth plan.
• Real concerns about the all-news stations Entercom bought from CBS Radio – identified and analyzed.

Read the full article

Compare monthly vs. annual subscriptions here

Report news in confidence here.

Jerry will appear with Lew & John Dickey together on stage at the 2019 Conclave in Minneapolis June 20^thin a deadly honest conversation about Cumulus and the future of the radio focusing on growth opportunities for radio people in the new modern media.  Details here.

Proud Mary is back to playing her A game.

Claiming that she has turned Cumulus around but the assertion appears to have no relationship to the facts according to people familiar with the internal workings of Cumulus.

The truth is – Cumulus is not a turnaround, it is a very troubled company.

Just because Mary Berner says it is so does not make it so and that is backed up by facts.

The happy talk radio trade press fell for Cumulus proclaiming a “victory lap” although the facts suggest a weakened company that is misleading the public as to the seriousness of their situation.  

Here are the facts from financial people close to Cumulus based on their recently filed 10-K.

• How financial experts close to Cumulus debunk dubious company claims of a financial turnaround.
• Cumulus says revenue is up – here are the real results with specific figures.
• What is the truth about Cumulus’ cash flow based on correct numbers.
• How bad is their debt – a critical indicator of future performance is revealed.
• What to watch to predict more station and asset sales like the ones to EMF for quick cash and low return.

Read the full article 

Compare monthly vs. annual subscriptions here

Report news in confidence here.

Jerry will appear with Lew & John Dickey together on stage at the 2019 Conclave in Minneapolis June 20^thin a deadly honest conversation about Cumulus and the future of the radio focusing on growth opportunities for radio people in the new modern media.  Details here.

There’s EMF and then who?

EMF’s vast religious broadcasting empire is buying up great radio properties these days for low, low prices because so many stations are for sale.

Brokers list 7 radio groups as potential solid buyers even as radio revenue declines.

The current multiple times cash flow that will be used to price the stations is different.

And it’s interesting that timing is everything but especially in buying or selling a radio station – that “sweet spot” has recently changed, too.

• There are 7 buyers for radio who are hot to own more stations (not counting Lew Dickey) – here are their chances to expand.
• The radio group that will pick around the edges and the one loaded with cash that’s under the radar.
• Why the majority of sellers can’t take even a good offer these days.
• The up-to-the-minute going multiples for radio acquisitions according to financial experts – broken down into small, medium and major markets.
• The $103.5 million Cumulus/EMF giveaway – is that the new normal?

Read the full article

Compare monthly vs. annual subscriptions here

Report news in confidence here.

Only Lori Lewis could make this happen -- Lew & John Dickey and I will be together on stage at the 2019 Conclave in Minneapolis June 20^thin a wide ranging and deadly honest conversation about what happened at Cumulus and where the future of the radio industry is – obviously, it’s not working for companies that can’t fire people fast enough.  We will talk about growth opportunities for radio people in the new modern media.  Details here.

I thought Cumulus was between a rock and a hard place.

The “victory lap” and turnaround that they are selling this week is far from that.  In fact, Cumulus is still in a precarious position unless it gets to choose its own facts.

That they were forced to sell iconic WPLJ-FM, New York and other major market properties to EMF for a lot less than they were worth is not the win-win they are trying to sell the public. 

Who calls selling major market stations a win-win when you essentially vacate a market?

After all, they must have needed the money to remain as a going concern.

Cumulus sold those valuable assets for virtually nothing not to keep operating or investing in future businesses as they tried to spin it to the public.

You could almost forgive and understand that.

Mary could now use the proceeds to fund her wall – I mean, her podcasting business.

But it’s worse.

Is Mary Berner even still calling the shots?

Remember this name – Paul Stone. 

Where is the $103.5 million EMF check really going?

Are more Cumulus stations being readied for sale?

Read the full article now

• There is an offer on the table right now involving Westwood One – here are the details.
• Westwood parent Cumulus reportedly wants to sell -- what they want in return.
• Why one prospective buyer is now going over Mary Berner’s head to get the deal done.
• How many other Westwood One buyers are making their move.
• How Westwood has started to consolidate operations detailed – first word on offices to be closed.

Read the full article 

Compare monthly vs annual subscriptions here

Report news in confidence here.

Lew & John Dickey and I will be together on stage at the 2019 Conclave in Minneapolis June 20^thin a wide ranging and deadly honest conversation about what happened at Cumulus and where the future of the radio industry is – obviously, it’s not working for companies that can’t fire people fast enough.  We will talk about growth opportunities for radio people in the new modern media.  Details here.

Not one of my current NYU students knows what WPLJ is.

It is true that they come from a generation that has never been without Napster, music piracy, iTunes, iPods and, of course, streaming.

So, they have no horse in the race that an iconic and technically superior radio signal is being sold off to Educational Media Foundation (EMF) to turn into a religious station.

I still can’t believe Mary Berner went there.

Selling WPLJ, all but eviscerating DC, trading stations with Entercom to cut costs.

Sure doesn’t sound like someone who wants to remain in the radio business.

And now, it appears the Cumulus auction is not finished and other markets may soon become available for purchase.

• Which 2 markets are thought to be next?
• Is EMF in the equation or are there other value buyers stepping forward?
• What is the time frame for the next round of Cumulus station sales?
• Why one of these markets will be a tough call because it is a cash cow that helps revenue but can get them a big payday – weighing the factors.
• Are they done selling super signals like WPLJ – in other words, was PLJ a one-off?

Read the full article now

Since Cumulus, owner of syndicator/network Westwood One went into bankruptcy rumors have surfaced that Westwood One is for sale.

It appears any attempt to sell Westwood One fell short of a decent offer so the company plunders on with an asset some believe they would rather monetize for their lenders by selling.

And yet it appears something major is up with Westwood One.

If not a sale – say to Entercom which would just about kill their stock price if they even tried – then what? 

• The most likely solution that would leave affiliate stations in a quandary. 

• A sale – not to the likely buyer Entercom, but to this company that is not on anyone’s radar.

• Why keeping Westwood One is becoming untenable for Cumulus.

• Where podcasting fits into the Cumulus Westwood One strategy. 

• Why a frontal attack by this interested party could terminally drive what’s left of Westwood One’s value down. 

Read the full article now

Now we know why David Field is letting analysts carry Entercom’s water on adjusted EBITDA and “assumed” synergies.

The real adjusted numbers belie reality which suggests that Entercom has already begun what could be a long spiral down.

Digging in to the reported numbers, actual performance of Entercom/CBS Radio is headed the wrong way and it suggests that lots of changes are coming or else this merger experiment is as good as over.

The market has been suspicious of the merger from almost day one as the reasons are becoming more apparent.

• How the massive Entercom salary and expense cutbacks are factoring in to overall revenue using real numbers they reported.
• Projection of real revenue for 2019 compared to the past few years.
• How analysts fears about Entercom have come true.
• The most pressing problem that Entercom must address quickly.
• Will current levels of station operating expenses be retained or will there be reductions?

Read the full article now

Mary Berner is just like the other radio CEOs when it comes to putting lipstick on a pig.

She just does it with more enthusiasm.

The happy talk radio trade press picks up on this combination of carefully selected information and brute optimism without challenge to give Cumulus a pass.

These free passes are based on no specifics, details or quantifiable metrics that a sophisticated public media investor would ever wrap their arms around.

Things are worse there than Berner is letting on.

Revenue problems, EBITDA problems, digital future problems and the evidence is all there for those who know where to look deeper into their Q4 pre-release and investor deck filed in the 8-K.

It turns out to be a lot of half-truths and taking liberty with the numbers.

Here are the real Cumulus numbers unpacked.

• The real Cumulus revenue figure and how they compare to the adjusted ones Mary Berner is selling.
• What’s being thrown in to prop Cumulus performance up.
• It’s right there in the numbers – the specific group of employees who will be taking the brunt of coming expense cuts.
• What’s the impact of Berner’s podcasting initiative?
• The expected effects of the sale of WPLJ and watering down major markets on revenue.

Read the full article now.

Have you noticed recently that David Field has muzzled his criticism of CBS Radio and its employees who he acquired through the merger?

Where he seemingly and publicly blamed them for almost everything that went wrong on the assimilation of the two companies, he has now fallen silent.

It’s not an accident.

Entercom is in big trouble missing investors’ expectations, failing to perform up to company estimations and all of this as radio continues to battle declining ad revenue and searching for a solution to the digital puzzle.

It’s not your father’s Entercom anymore.

Or maybe it is – more like founder Joe Field’s company than the grandiose dream of his son, David.

In any case, Field has decided to shake it up and the Entercom that we will see is nothing like the bumbling company that screwed the CBS merger.

• Will Field give up more control and rely on others to help turn around Entercom?
• Where’s Weezie – does she keep doing “Where’s Waldo” or does she reemerge and if so, how does she help the reboot?
• The all-news franchise is in trouble and it was one-third of CBS’s revenue, who comes in to straighten that out?
• The SAG-AFTRA pissing match – the new David Field.
• What new initiatives are coming to pick up lagging revenue?
• The list of what gets rebooted – and what does not.

Read the full article now

We know that Cox Media Group is selling off its TV division to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. 

This includes 13 Cox television stations, a radio cluster in Dayton along with some publishing assets.

No so fast with the rumor that private equity firm Apollo will also roll up the remaining radio stations which are an integral part of TV and publishing.

There are other interested buyers. 

We also know Cox will not solely retain the radio assets so they are on the move, but because Cox is a well-run media company albeit in a declining media industry, there are some breathtaking possibilities beyond the obvious.

• Some really good buyers don’t have a chance in hell, here are a few of them.
• Cox is keeping a minority interest so they want a deal their way so the question is what is their way?
• Why Cox Radio is in such demand when Cumulus is out selling off icons like WPLJ and essentially vacating New York and DC among other places they need to be.
• What it will all come down to – and what’s fascinating is that price has very little to do with it. Here’s what it will take to win the 61 Cox Radio stations.

Read the full article now

A few years ago we predicted the Cumulus and iHeart bankruptcies.

Few believed it then.  Pure speculation, they said.  Can’t be. And the companies denied it up and down until the bitter end.

Now we’re back with 4 more radio bankruptcies and the reasons why.

Obviously when these 4 radio groups file, it will have an adverse effect on the struggling radio industry.

• Who are these 4 groups?
• Why will they be forced to seek bankruptcy protection?
• Which one has the best chance of maybe – just maybe, dodging it – but even then, no guarantees.
• We’re warning you now, some of the names on this list are shockers.
• The latest intel on each of the 4 companies and why they are headed down.

Read the full article now

• How serious are Entercom’s debt problems?
• What is behind yesterday’s big Entercom stock selloff?
• Is it time to be concerned about the future of Entercom.
• How much time does Entercom have to deal with debt (remember, both iHeart & Cumulus denied bankruptcy up to the end)?
• What they will do to cut expenses further.

Read the full article now.

• Here’s what’s up with Westwood One – plus two buyers who could steal the company.
• Will Cumulus entertain offers for other WPLJ-type properties now that they’ve all but exited major markets New York & DC?
• Besides religious broadcaster EMF, who are potential buyers for prime Cumulus assets?
• The surprising answer to what happens to money made from selling iconic radio stations.
• The surprising market Cumulus would love to sell off major stations.

Read the full article now.

• The “new look” live events business shaping up under Entercom
• Puzzling revenue numbers, revamping of what’s a live event
• New practices and policies created largely by non-CBS people
• How even Taylor Swift lays an egg for Entercom live events
• Walking away from money – Entercom’s new strategy

Read the full article now.

• Did Cumulus try to sell Westwood One? Is it still trying?
• What is Westwood now worth without major New York and DC stations to clear spots?
• What it is likely to take to buy Westwood One at this point.
• The best buyer for Westwood.
• What happens to Westwood One should Cumulus enter a second bankruptcy?

Read the full article now.

• Now that the TV stations are sold, why selling part or all of Cox’s Radio division could be very complicated.
• The kind of prices Cox will be seeking?
• Who might have the greatest interest in Cox Radio?
• What happens to Kim Guthrie?

Read the full article now.

• The effect of the Cumulus selloff on competitors
• Will more stations be sold
• What could make Cumulus giveaway WPLJ
• The fate of WABC-AM
• The selloff side effects on Westwood One 

Read the full article now.

How prophetic was Wednesday’s headline – “Cumulus Starting to Panic”?

Several hours after it was published Cumulus announced a $103.5 million sale of WPLJ-FM, New York, WYAY-FM, Atlanta, WRQX-FM, Washington, KFFG-FM, San Jose, WZAT-FM, Savannah and WXTL-FM, Syracuse – all FM stations for pennies on the dollar to the bottom feeder in radio acquisitions Educational Media Foundation (EMF).

And EMF gets towers or leases that will generate an additional $5-7 million in revenue.

Separately, Cumulus did a swap with Entercom in which Cumulus gets three Indianapolis stations in exchange for Nash-FM in New York (Newark, NJ) and two stations in Springfield, MA.

Cumulus CEO Mary Berner said “These transactions are consistent with our portfolio optimization strategy and both deals are accretive,” as her nose grew.

And Entercom CEO David Field apparently crossed his fingers and toes when he said “We are saddened to part ways with our colleagues in Indianapolis, but know that they will be in great hands.”

Huh?

Great hands?

Cumulus is so desperate it is selling off pieces for scrap to give long suffering lenders recovery value. 

How would Field like to work on the Titanic.

You don’t need to be reminded of what the decision to sell major markets means to a radio company.

And nowhere in all this is their reference to the many jobs lost, the lies told, careers ruined all by a CEO who made her employees believe that it was the previous regime that was toxic.

Cumulus in effect announcing it is weakening itself, selling majors and running from the radio business is just the beginning of the story, here are 7 key ramifications no one dares to mention. 

Read the full article now.

An entirely new way to run the company.

A different approach to handling employees.

A warning that as Berner begins to sweat, sudden and unusual actions will be taken to preserve her job.

Unthinkable changes just a year ago are now back on the table.

And there’s Mike McVay. 

Read the full article now.

There are some pretty amazing assertions in this year’s Deloitte media study.

Deloitte is one of the big four accounting organizations and the largest professional services network in the world so it’s not nothing when they pool information and publish reports.

Audiences will soon prefer radio over TV.

And how radio can survive by just being “there”.

And we’re not making this stuff up even though it seems Deloitte is way out on a limb.

But the most fascinating and perhaps revealing aspect of this Big Four accounting group’s state of the media has to do with where djs rank among the top ten reasons to listen to radio.

That’s worth unpacking because as it turns out, this finding actually tells a lot about the future of radio.

And also, the most popular thing about radio today that most people even in radio don’t know.

Read the full article now.

At the time of the merger, David Field was so anxious to offload CBS salaries higher than he was paying any of his Entercom employees that he pushed CBS to start doing it even before the merger officially closed.

Remember?

Andre Fernandez and Scott Herman were pressured to keep Field happy and as it turns out tried to talk David out of blowing things up even more interestingly enough acting like the adults in the room.

Field got his way and when he took over, he had no one to stop him.  Nine qualified and highly compensated CBS managers lined up and fired from the get go. 

Field has another big personnel problem but what he’s planning to do now can no longer be blamed on CBS. 

Read the full article now.

To be really honest, no one knows what Cumulus is worth.

In fact, the new board of directors doesn’t even know because their CEO is using adjusted accounting figures (as other failing radio groups are doing) so they can’t see whether Cumulus is coming back strong or whether its insufficiencies are being covered up.

The bankruptcy court assigned a value to Cumulus when it emerged earlier last year and that’s it.

When I ask people familiar with Cumulus and with extensive background running radio companies to cut through the window dressing and get down to a fair value for Cumulus something strange happens.

Here are the clean numbers.

Read the full article now.

Nobody is making money in radio.

Unless you accept the new digital reality, radio’s impressive reach and free cash flow stream will no longer be enough to both pay debt and post significant profits.

Radio stations are becoming distressed properties.

That’s why it seems like almost every station is on the market right now with no buyers and fewer lenders.

Is this the time to buy into radio?

Read the full article now.

From the beginning of the Mary Berner regime there has been talk about if it could even be possible that a former publishing executive could turn around Cumulus Media.

She had no radio background and her time at Reader’s Digest was marked by two bankruptcies, one that she initiated and one that the board reluctantly refiled after she failed to turn the publishing giant around.

But Berner has lasted long enough to have her employment contract renewed, bonuses paid even with bankruptcy looming and a generous golden parachute agreed upon should she leave the employment of Cumulus.

And that’s the big question – will Berner stay or will she go?

One radio CEO has been IDed at reportedly pitching it and something appears to be up with the board.

Read the full article now.

I get that Bob Pittman has the credibility of a snake oil salesman.

But employees and anyone investing in or doing business with iHeart going forward are in for a big letdown and financial uncertainty.

Yes, the company is coming out of bankruptcy in a few months but as you’re about to read today all the company spin about a new iHeart is not going to happen.

Turns out Bain and iHeart made a big mistake and they are about to pay for it.

You wouldn’t admit this publicly, either, would you?

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Today’s topics …

“Fake Local” is about to be replaced by “personalized” radio.  What’s that?

The end of bankruptcy, the beginning of uncertainty at iHeart

#1 in Billboard with NO radio airplay – how is this even possible?

Everything is for sale in radio.  So where are the buyers?

The reason John Malone has to have iHeart.  It’s not for radio

Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Subscribers access all stories here.

Try a monthly or annual subscription here.

Today’s topics …

The end of bankruptcy, the beginning of uncertainty at iHeart

#1 in Billboard with NO radio airplay – how is this even possible?

Everything is for sale in radio.  So where are the buyers?

The reason John Malone has to have iHeart.  It’s not for radio

Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Subscribers access all stories here.

Try a monthly or annual subscription here.

Today’s topics …

Everything is for sale in radio.  So where are the buyers?

The reason John Malone has to have iHeart.  Its not for the radio

Why Wall Street is hating on Beasley

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers to the iHeart takeover

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

Subscribers access all stories here.

Try a monthly or annual subscription here.

Today’s topics …

Lew Dickey’s new company has a change of plans

Liberty wants to add 2 more media mergers to the iHeart takeover

CEOs publicly talk up radio’s future but secretly look to diversify

Are any radio groups safe?  These 3 are bullet proof

Entercom really is in trouble and, yes, David Field could even lose the company

Cumulus is now onboarding new people to fire a large number of existing employees

Subscribers access all stories here.

Try a monthly or annual subscription here.